Hermione Granger is Stupid
by Ruinus
Summary: Set during 6th year, Hermione gets help from two people she least expected and realizes she's in love with the wrong guy.
1. LavLav

**AN**: I'm going to be honest, I've only ever read one _Harry Potter _book, which I think may have been _Chamber of Secrets_ and I didn't see the movie version of _The Half Blood Prince._ So of course I decided to write a fanfic set during _Half Blood Prince. _So if some things don't match what actually occurred in the movies or books in this story… that's why it's fanfic.

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**Lav-Lav**

Many people believed Lavender Brown to be a stupid blonde bimbo.

Of course those people are wrong.

She wasn't stupid, she simply had average grades. Maybe people thought she was stupid because she hadn't scored straight Os in her O.W.L.s?_ Big deal, a lot of people didn't score that. _Maybe they thought she was stupid because she loved Divination? _Sure, I love the art. But that makes me stupid? _Maybe it was because she was emotional and, as one of her friends once told her "prone to exaggeration". _Ok, they had a point there. But feeling strongly about everything doesn't make me stupid. Annoying sure, I can see that. But not stupid right?_

_A bimbo? I've had a total of 3 boyfriends! _One was a two week thing when she was 13, another was a stable relationship of a few months in 5th year and the last was her current boyfriend Ron Weasley. Three relationships isn't enough to be called a bimbo she thought. Especially since she never let any of them go beyond snogging. _I do love snogging though._

And last but certainly not least she is _not_ blonde. Why the entire school seemed to persist in their idea that she was blonde was completely beyond her. She's only lived here for _six years_. Maybe the school needed to have their eyesight checked? _Or maybe,_ she thought, _since everyone thinks I'm stupid and a bimbo they automatically assume that I must be blonde._

_Maybe they think I spell my hair brunette? How dare they? This is my natural color._

"Christ," she muttered. "Stay focused."

While Lavender wasn't a stupid blonde bimbo she did get easily distracted when she was anxious.

And she was anxious.

She had noticed recently that one Hermione Granger wasn't exactly being her usual friendly self to her. Sure, Hermione wasn't super best friends with her, Parvati, Fay or Clara. But since they were all dorm mates they were at least friendly to each other.

_Maybe since Parvati and I are best friends, and Fay and Clara are best friends, we don't get along with Hermione as much because she's the odd one out? _Maybe, but she doubted it. Hermione didn't seem to share any of the same interests that her dorm mates did.

_FOCUS!_

Lavender cleared her mind for a second time, she was here to confront Hermione on her recent frosty attitude towards her and that's what she was going to do.

Walking into her dormitory she saw Hermione sitting on her bed, her head buried in a giant tome, a free hand scribbling away notes on a nearby parchment. Her eyes briefly looked up and caught Lavender's before she went straight back to her note taking, her scribbling more furious than before. Lavender sighed and looked over to her best friend. Parvati seemed to sense her thoughts, best friends after all, and looked up from her _Witch Weekly _and gave a shrug. Fay and Clara seemed to be out.

_Good._

Lavender looked over to Parvati again and gave her a nod which she returned. Parvati started to walk out of the dorm and paused by Lavender and whispered "Good luck" before exiting the dorm.

And now she was alone with Hermione and her noisy quill.

Hermione seemed to notice this too, Lavender could see her tense as she walked over to her bed.

"Hey Hermione, can we talk?" she asked politely as she stood over Hermione's bed. She didn't make a move to sit down and she wanted this to go easily. She did want to clear up this… whatever it was, and you can't do that with a bad attitude and bad manners.

No response. Maybe Hermione simply didn't hear?

"Uh, Hermio-"

"I'm a little busy Lavender."

_Oh._ Lavender's eyes widened momentarily at the curt tone. _Well that's how it's going to be?_

"Hermione, what's your problem?"

_That _certainly got her attention.

"I have no idea what you mean Lavender. Now if you can leave me alone?"

Lavender usually left Hermione alone when she was studying, but not now. So she put her foot down. "No, I'm having none of this Hermione. Lately you've been acting as if you can't stand being in the same room as me. We've never been close friends but at least I've never acted like a git towards you, so I expect the same courtesy!"

"Courtesy!" Hermione flared up. "Courtesy! You're one to talk about courtesy what with you and _Won-Won _giving everyone in the common room a show! Courtesy would be to at least get a room before you start going at it like animals!"

_Ah, so there it is._

Both girls knew this was about Ron. Hermione had just admitted it, however inadvertently, and Lavender _knew_ it was about Ron. She wasn't stupid after all.

"So this is about Wo-Ron then?" Lavender almost slipped into her nickname for her boyfriend. Hermione probably wouldn't appreciate her nickname for him at this time. And she didn't if her quick grimace was anything to go by.

"No Lavender, it's about both of you. You really should have some respect for the rest of us before you go out and give us a show."

Lavender scoffed. "Oh really Hermione, you expect me to believe that? I know for a _fact_ that this is about Ron. You are the only one who complains about our "shows", you aren't talking to Ron at all and when you are it's usually just to argue with him over nothing, you have been acting cold towards me since we got together! So _what_ exactly is the problem? If you are worried that I'm stealing away your friend from you…" Lavender paused, unsure of her words. "Well, maybe it's your own fault. Keep in mind that you are also driving Harry away too."

Hermione flinched. "What? Oh. Harry… that's different. That's nothing."

"How?" Lavender asked.

"I don't want to talk about it Lavender, least of all to you."

_Well that doesn't make sense._ Lavender thought the situation over; she had initially thought that Hermione was angry at both Ron and Harry. This is true. But the more she thought about it, something was nagging her. Hermione was obviously in some sort of spat with Harry, everyone had noticed their arguing recently. The sight of Harry and Hermione arguing over _anything_ was enough to get people to gossip. But when Harry and Hermione argued it looked and sounded like she was just disappointed in Harry, or let down somehow. It was the same look she get whenever she would hear that he hadn't finished some essay or assignment, the look that showed that Harry was doing something that she didn't approve of. But something that sooner or later they'd get over. Just two best friends having a temporary tiff.

But with Ron it looked like she was betrayed. As if he had done something, or was doing something, that hurt Hermione deeply.

And Hermione _really _hated Lavender at the moment.

_Oh._

_Well that doesn't make any sense at all._

"Hermione, do you fancy Ron?"

Hermione glared at her, anger evident on her face. "Well it took you long enough to figure it out Lavender. Yes, I happen to fancy Ron, your boyfriend. Maybe now you know why I didn't want to talk about this with you?"

A few moments passed in awkward silence and Hermione made to get back to her note taking. "Now Lavender, if this is over I'd like to-"

"That's just stupid."

Whatever Hermione expected Lavender to say, it certainly wasn't that. She looked up at the source of her irritation and cause of heartbreak for the past few weeks to see a very confused look on Lavender's face.

"_What_?" Hermione asked, indignation and confusion etched in her voice.

"Hermione," Lavender started before stopping, her eyes scrunching up as she searched for the words to continue. "Hermione," Lavender started up again, "I want to ask you a few things, just a few things alright?" she added as she saw Hermione move to bury herself in her books again. "Look, just answer me and I'll be out of your hair." she added, purposefully giving the bookworm a jab at her hair. "Can you please answer me honestly?"

Hermione had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. "Ok. Ask away then." she huffed in annoyance.

"What exactly do you see in Ron?" Lavender asked, smirking when she saw the bookworm's eyes widen in surprise. That small show telling her that she had the upper foot now and she was determined to use it.

"Well he's my best friend." She replied honestly.

"So is Harry." Lavender replied instantly, her own mind running a mile a minute while Hermione's was still warming up.

"Well he's got a nice body?" Hermione said uncertainly, obviously thrown off guard by the entire line of questioning that she had entered.

"Ok Hermione," Lavender said in a tone that mirrored Hermione's own disbelief at her weak reasoning. "Let's just say that a nice body is enough to get your attention. There are a ton of guys with better bodies than Ron Weasley."

Hermione sat, mouth agape, before she recovered. "How can you say that! Ron is your boyfriend!"

"So what Hermione? Just because we are dating doesn't mean I'm blind to the other guys around here just like I'm sure Ron sometimes eyes up girls with more curves than me. It's natural." Lavender narrowed her eyes. "So, what physically attracts you to Ron that other guys don't have? It can't be his red hair or else you'd be going after the Weasley twins." Hermione shuddered. "It can't be his height because there are a few guys who are as tall or taller than Ron. His freckles? Others have that too. His eyes? Same. It can't be anything physical since Viktor Krum is much better looking than Ron and you didn't stick with him."

"He's in Bulgaria." Hermione offered as an explanation.

"And with floo travel you could be in Bulgaria in what? An hour? Long distance relationships don't exist in the wizarding world Hermione."

"Ok, so then why do _you_ like him?" Hermione countered, the questioning about her feelings for Ron really agitating her.

"No, no Hermione, we aren't here to discuss why I like my Won-Won," Lavender didn't care if Hermione hated the nickname, "I know exactly why I like him. What we are discussing here is why _you_ like him, and so far you've done a terrible job of explaining."

"Ok fine." Hermione almost growled out, "Maybe I can't put my finger on what physically attracts me to him. Maybe it's a conglomeration of traits and not a single defining characteristic. But I do have other reasons." Lavender simply gave her a nod to continue. "Well, he's… well he's been there for me when I've needed it."

"Like when?"

Finally Hermione beamed, she knew she could answer this correctly. "First year he saved me from a troll." She wore a great smile as she remembered his bravery… and quickly scowled as Lavender rained on that parade.

"Yeah, I know that story. He cast _Wingardium Leviosa_ on a troll, using its own club to knock it out." Lavender replied as she recalled that, it was one of the first stories Ron had told her. "So where was Harry on all of this? Oh that's right, he was on the _back of the troll_ trying to distract it." Lavender sighed, "There were two people who went in to save you from that troll Hermione, and even though I'm dating one of them I can tell you that my boyfriend wasn't the bravest on that night. Besides Ron is the reason you were in that bathroom in the first place."

Hermione ground her teeth, obviously angry that Lavender had easily tarnished what she must have thought had been a stellar point in her argument.

"Second year! When-"

"When you were petrified for those few weeks." Lavender cut in with a smug look on her face. It wasn't that she enjoyed doing this to Hermione, it was just that she enjoyed having pre-empted the great Hermione Granger. She felt _really_ smart right now. "Ron would visit you… but only for a few minutes or so, and never at breakfast, lunch or dinner."

Hermione's face fell, Lavender feeling a tinge of sympathy for the girl. Clearly she hadn't actually thought about Ron's visits beyond "he was there" and must have imagined him sitting by her side and worrying himself sick as she was prone to do when Harry ended up in the hospital wing. Even though she was currently arguing with her she felt she needed to cheer the girl up.

"Oh Hermione, Harr-"

"Harry was there all his free time right?" Hermione asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah, he was." Lavender replied softly. "Who told you?"

"No one, I guessed. Or I knew. Harry's like that." Lavender saw a small smile appear on the girl's face as she thought about her other best friend before it disappeared and she returned her gaze towards her. "Well in third year-"

"Third year? What could Ron have done for you in third year? He's the reason you got into your first argument with Harry. Everyone knows that! All over some stupid broomstick, you were miserable for that week where Harry took Ron's side. Luckily the boy realized you were just looking out for him and concerned about him. Besides," she continued, "I had to listen to Ron whine for a while when he complained about you and Harry running off and having your own adventure."

Hermione looked like she was about to cry. Or hex her. Or hex her while crying. The girl was scary sometimes.

"Look Hermione, I think I know what you are going to say. Fourth year you might try to argue that after his very public blow up over you and Viktor Krum means that he was jealous. Ok, maybe he was, I don't know since he's never told me. But remember that it was Ron that walked out on you and Harry that year. Ron, he's a great guy in his own way or he could be one day, but he wasn't a great guy that year. He let his jealousy and insecurity control him and he walked out on his two best friends. This is the guy you like? And fifth year-"

"No, stop." Hermione asked, more like pleaded. "Ok, you make good points. But still, I fancy Ron." Hermione really didn't want to do this anymore, this entire thing had gone into directions she would have rather avoided.

"Alright Hermione, I'll drop it. You like Ron? Ok, I accept that. We'll try to keep our relationship out of your face ok?" She wanted to see the bushy-haired girl nod, the fight gone out of her, "Ok, thank you Hermione. You know, I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't know you liked him until now, I actually thought. Well. Hermione, just think about the fact that you didn't argue or defend Ron while I basically called you out on the fantasy you have about him. I basically grilled you as to why you'd like him and, let's be frank, I wasn't very flattering towards my own boyfriend. But you just… well, you _let_ me tear him down. Maybe you should think about that."

And with that Lavender left the room, leaving the bookworm alone.

"What happened?" Parvati asked as soon as Lavender came down the stairs.

Lavender sighed and looked over at her boyfriend, who was having some loud conversation about Quidditch with a few other guys. "It doesn't make sense." she muttered, nothing in her mind allowing her to understand how Hermione Granger would fall for Ron Weasley. Ron was a fanciable guy, she was snogging him after all, but the image she had of Hermione Granger wasn't an image that had her fancying Ron of all people.

She turned to Parvati, who still had an expectant look on her face. Lavender opened her mouth to talk but then quickly snapped it shut. _Ok, me and Hermione aren't getting along right now, _she thought, _But that was a private conversation._ She sighed and shrugged, Parvati simply nodding as if that explained everything.

"Hey Pav," Lavender asked suddenly, "I know you don't really like Ron," Parvati made a face, something about Ron simply rubbed the girl the wrong way. "But answer me honestly, you think you can see yourself falling for Ron?"

Parvati made a face.

"Right," Lavender said with a laugh which her friend returned.

"Lav," Parvati teased, "You're the type of girl who fall for guys like Ron."

Lavender giggled. It was true.

It was also true that Hermione Granger _wasn't _the type of girl that Lavender was.


	2. Maybe You Aren't StuOh I Spoke Too Soon

**AN: **Thank you for the reviews/favorites/alert adds. To respond to some of you:

**Magitech** – I don't know about Hermione being arrogant, but it seems to me that no one ever attempted to talk her out of a relationship with Ron. Everyone just kinda went "Oh look at those two, fighting all the time like a married couple", and no one said "Married couples that fight all the time get divorced."

**Whatweareafreaidof- **I know she sent some magical birds after him, which seems really excessive to me, but Ron's the guy who always seemed to give up on Hermione and Harry whenever things started getting really tough. Or just when he felt jealous, as in 4th year.

**Randompandattack-** I wish. I've only read book 2 during middle school as it was required reading, and saw movies 1-4 and the final part of _Deathly Hallows._ All my knowledge of part 5-7 comes from fan fiction or from reading disjointed quotes online. One such disjointed quote makes its way here, though the circumstances are different. Also Lavender's part in this whole thing isn't done yet.

Hopefully you'll all like this chapter too.

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**Maybe You Aren't Stu-Oh I Spoke Too Soon**

_Love Potions?_

Hermione Granger frowned as she overheard Romilda Vane proclaim that she was sure to get with Harry after she slipped him some love potion laced chocolate candies for the upcoming Slug Club party. She rolled her eyes at the giggles the group of girls let out as they talked about the green eyed Quidditch captain. _She's the fourth girl to plan on slipping Harry love potions…_

She really was dreading the Slug Club Christmas party and would do anything to get out of it, _especially_ since it didn't seem like Ron would be going with her like they originally planned. Maybe she could get Harry to go with her as her date? She knew he didn't have one yet, he was dreading this party just as much as she was, and it was her fault he had to go to the party in the first place.

_Would he even want to go with me? _She did admit that she had been somewhat hostile to Harry recently. Somewhat.

_It really is just that stupid book. Why can't he see that it was dangerous?_

Some of the notes that were written in the margins for potions and spells were borderline dark wizard territory. Why would Harry want to learn a cutting curse? Or a potion that causes a ventricle to rupture? Whoever that Half-Blood Prince was he was clearly not a good man and Harry didn't need to associate with that type of person even if it was just through a book. And it was cheating too, something which incensed Hermione just as equally as the spells and potions. It'd be fine with her if he could tell her just why crushing Blood Bloom petals with the blunt end of the knife was a better alternative to cutting it or why substituting with Cairn Bolete Cap with Water Hyacinth Nectars was perfectly acceptable during the brewing of a Potion of Knitting Skin.

But he _couldn't._

He wasn't learning anything at all; he was taking shortcuts to get easy scores. _Why can't he see that he's unintentionally crippling his potions knowledge? He's being so- No. Ok, calm down Hermione, calm down, don't judge Harry too harshly. If anyone deserves a free pass now and then, he does._

Hermione tried to put herself in Harry's shoes, something she had tried doing recently to try to calm herself down enough to attempt to mend her friendship with him. Murdered parents, abusive home life, attempt on his life in 1st year along with a showdown with the evilest dark wizard in the same year, facing a basilisk in his second year by himself… She didn't even bother to go on. She could have stopped at "murdered parents" and she'd know she'd cut him some slack for using some notes scribbled in an old potions book. She was temporarily brought out of her musings as she reached the Grand Staircase and saw that the stairs that led back to the Gryffindor common room weren't in their correct configuration yet and still wouldn't be for a few minutes.

_Good thing I realized or I'd have gone the wrong way._

_Ok Hermione, I'll ask Harry to Slughorn's Christmas party as a peace offering. It's time to end this silly squabble over a silly book; I'm not going to make his life harder by harping on him because of some silly nonsense._

One of the stairs aligned itself right and Hermione began to climb up towards the common room, her mood increasing as she thought about making peace with Harry.

_Maybe we'll even enjoy ourselves._

The Fat Lady's portrait swung open and Hermione stepped into the common room and immediately bristled at the sight of Lavender sitting in Ron's lap while they no doubt held a competition to see whose tongue was stronger. She had half a mind to reprimand Ron for behavior unbecoming a prefect but was stopped when Lavender opened her eyes for a half second in pleasure and caught Hermione's gaze. Whatever sickening feeling was welling up in Hermione's stomach was quashed by surprise when Lavender immediately broke off the snogging session.

"Well at least they are trying." Hermione muttered under her breath as she scanned the room for her other best friend.

Harry Potter was sitting at the table that the rest of the Gryffindors had dubbed "The Trio's Table", the table where Harry, Ron and her would usually do their work. Hermione realized with a small stab in her heart that lately it'd been Harry sitting by himself. _Well time to fix that. _As she walked over to him she noticed he was wearing his Quidditch uniform and guessed that he'd either just come back from practice or was about to head out. If it was the former she'd hope she had enough time to talk to him first. She stopped in her tracks when he looked up, saw her making her way toward him, and immediately tried to leave. In his scramble he closed the book in front of him a bit louder than he intended. Hermione immediately knew what book he was trying to hide.

"Harry," she called out to him in the clearest and most polite manner she could. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen wheeler. "Harry," she repeated in a softer voice. "Can I sit with you and can we catch up?"

His smile was wonderful.

"So Harry, what are you doing there? Studying for potions?"

He hesitated for a moment and his smile faltered. "Yes I am."

"That's good Harry." She replied, making sure not to condemn his choice of study material so flippantly. "Just make sure you study the entire book please? Could you at least try?"

"Of course Hermione," he said, finally relaxing around his best friend after weeks of tension between them. "I'll try for you."

Hermione's immediate thought was to reprimand him and say "You should try to do better for yourself not for me!" But something about his comment didn't feel wrong.

_So far so good, now it's time to actually clear things up._

"Harry I'd just like to say that… well this whole thing with you and me and that, that book of yours. I'm sorry that-"

"No Hermione," he interrupted, something he usually didn't do. "Don't be sorry. You were just looking out for me and you don't have to be sorry about that. You never have to apologize for looking out for me Hermione. _I'm_ the one who's sorry. I've been so stubborn and I really don't have any excuse except that…" He was silenced when Hermione reached over and put a finger on his lips, the simple gesture silencing him completely.

"Harry James Potter," she said with a death glare that was completely ruined by the smile she was trying to desperately suppress. "You don't get to turn down my apology and then offer your own apology in return. Let's just say that we are both sorry and leave it that ok?" Her finger still on his lips suddenly felt as it if was on fire when he grinned and nodded. "So," she said with her own smile, "Are we good now?"

When he shook his head Hermione immediately withdrew her finger from his lips, all warmness she was feeling suddenly gone. There was no way she had misread the situation was there? It all seemed fine, but what if… Her blood ran cold. What if she'd pushed Harry away because of her feelings for Ron?

"Not until we hug on it Hermione."

They might as well have Apparated to each other, one second they are sitting down and the next they are standing and hugging by the table. Hermione put everything she could into the hug, she didn't care what Harry thought, she felt this entire thing was her fault and she silently vowed to never let anything put a wedge between Harry and her again. She hugged him as tightly as she could, feeling better than she had in a long time. She almost cried when she heard Harry whisper in her ear "I've missed you."

She didn't trust herself not to cry if she said anything, so she simply nodded into his chest. She'd missed him too.

She also couldn't believe it was this easy to make up with him and for the both of them to forgive each other.

"Thank you." She finally replied in a shaky voice while pulling herself from him, no longer hugging but still holding each other. "So, Quidditch uniform?"

"What? Oh right, yeah." He replied as if he'd only just realized what he was wearing. "I scheduled a training session today and this was the only time the field was clear. I was just waiting for," Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well, I was just waiting for Ron over there to finish." He gestured over to the happy couple sitting in each other's laps across the room.

Hermione, taking any chance she could to look over at the object of her affections, looked and saw, to her surprise, that Lavender and Ron weren't kissing but whispering, quite loudly she might add, to each other. It didn't look like Ron was happy at all while Lavender looked positively ecstatic . Hermione had no clue why she'd be looking so cheery and as such her mind rove back to Ron.

_He's probably ticked that they aren't snogging like ani-_

_No. Calm down Hermione._

_I'm here to make up with Harry, NOT get upset over Ron._

"Well, it looks like he's done." She said as calmly as she could.

"Hopefully." Harry replied with a face and for a moment Hermione was secretly pleased that someone besides her was bothered by the two. "But I doubt it. Either way, the field is clear at 5, and we've still got a good half hour to get down there and figured I'd study a bit before heading down." He grinned. "So you caught me at a good time."

"It seems that I did." She looked him over and couldn't help but notice that he looked rather handsome in that uniform. "So Potter," she decided to tease him and maybe help loosen things up between them, "are you looking forward to seeing your cheering fan girls on the field today?"

"Ha!" he laughed "Quidditch _is_ certainly interesting this year, so-"

"Oh, come on Harry," she interrupted, hating it whenever he downplayed himself, "It's not _Quidditch_ that's popular, it's you! You've never been more interesting, and frankly, you've never been more fanciable."

Ron suddenly started coughing loudly, and Hermione looked over at him in disdain. Lavender was next to him, patting him on the back to help his coughs and gave Hermione a smile and a wink.

_What's that about?_

She turned her gaze back to Harry and laid out exactly why he'd suddenly gained so much attention from the girls of the wizarding world, laying out in complete detail why a witch would love to gain his affections all the while she was completely unaware that Harry was finding the common room hot all of a sudden, even though the windows gave a view of a cold and rainy day. Hermione wrote off his slight blush to his dislike at being complemented so openly.

"And it doesn't hurt that you've grown about a foot over the summer either," she finished, not hearing Ron mutter something that suspiciously sounded like "I'm tall" from his seat with Lavender.

When Harry finally got his body temperature under control he finally muttered, "Well, none of the girls that are interested in me are the right girl for me."

She nodded, now was her chance. "Oh! That reminds me, I overheard a lot of the girls, one of them Romilda Vane, say they were planning on slipping you a love potion to get you to take them to the upcoming Christmas party."

"So…" Harry began, thoughts forming in his head, "What do you suggest? Not eating anything that is handed to me from girls for a while? Take a girl I trust to the party?"

She beamed at him, "Yes! That's exactly what I was going to suggest!" She was really pleased that he'd pre-empted her suggestion, not only because he was using his noggin', but also because it made the following much easier. She was still nervous though. And she had no idea why she suddenly started blushing furiously. This was _Harry_ she was asking, her best friend, she had no reason to be nervous even if she was basically asking him on a date. _As a friend,_ she reminded herself.

_So it's not a date._

Even though it was.

"So, I was wondering," she said while locking her gaze with his, "if you'd like to be my date for the Christmas party? We could go as friends since neither of us has a date and, if I'm not too presumptuous, but you trust me not to slip you any love potions don't you?"

She saw Harry open his mouth and…

… Ron's voice came out.

"Oh no he won't!"

Ron stormed over to the two, Hermione quickly leaving Harry's embrace to confront the fuming redhead. She was furious that he'd ruin such a nice moment between Harry and her and wanted to make sure he knew it. "Oh and who gave you the right to answer for Harry?_"_

She shrugged off Harry's hand on her shoulder, Ron doing the same when Lavender tried to lead him back to their chair. "Just what do you think you are doing Hermione? First you say you thought about inviting McLaggen, then you say you wanted to go with me and now you are asking Harry!" He turned his glare towards Harry, who still continued to try to turn Hermione away from this confrontation. "Harry mate, don't bother with her, she'll probably just go and ask some other guy behind your back!"

Harry, who quickly saw that this was turning ugly tried to calm him down, "Ron, I don't think Hermoi-"

"Well _maybe_ I wouldn't have to ask different people if the person I did ask wasn't such a giant prat!"

Ron threw his hands in the air, nearly hitting Lavender in the process. "Oh shut up! It's always "you're such a git!" or "Stop being a prat!" with you! Maybe you _like_ going after gits and prats with the way you talk about them all the time! First Krum who couldn't even pronounce your name correctly then you ask me to the party, even though you always go on and on that I'm a prat! What's next McLaggen? Mafloy? What git are you going to go after next!"

"You know what Ron, maybe you are right! Maybe I am going to go to that Christmas party with the biggest git you can think off and maybe I'll enjoy myself while you sit here feeling left out because your _pig-headedness_ certainly isn't going to ruin _my _chance at a nice night out!"

"Alright then fine! See if I give a crap!" Ron shouted, "Go to that stupidly named party with some moron and maybe the two of you can be the King and Queen of all the stupid Slugs!"

"Great! Maybe I will!" Hermione shouted with equal vigor as she walked up to the girl's dormitory tower "Goodnight _Ronald!_" she shouted across the room as she slammed the door behind her.

_Ronald is so infuriating sometimes!_ Hermione raged in her mind, an anger induced headache creeping up and starting to gnaw at her head. She paced beside her bed as she tried to shake her thoughts away from the furious red-head, cursing the fact that he had such an effect on her. All thoughts of Harry flew from her mind as her anger took over. She couldn't believe Ron's idiocy at times. What nerve of him to suddenly interrupt her conversation, her _private_ conversation? And who was _he_ to tell her who she could and could not ask to the party? As if _he_ was the moral exemplar of Hogwarts, as if he _wasn't_ the tosser who had started a relationship with another girl after she'd asked him to a date?

_Oh he's such a hypocrite!_ She fumed, _Warning Harry against the very thing that he did!_ She grit her teeth in frustration as she unsuccessfully tried to calm down. Who does he think he is to tell me who I can and can't ask to the party? My father? My brother? My boyfriend?

She'd known that Ron could be insensitive, that sometimes he'd have the habit of putting his foot in his mouth, but until this year she didn't think he could be so thickheaded as to do this to her, to cheat on her with, of all people, Lavender Brown. Sometimes she wished he would go back to being Ron from earlier years, insensitive and prone to bouts of idiocy yes, but that Ron was infinitely superior to the current Ron. _Quidditch has gone to his head._ Hermione thought sourly. It was all well and good that he'd finally found some self-esteem, something he was sorely lacking in previous years, but all his self-esteem had done to him is make him have a huge ego. _Weasley is our King, showing off at the games, snogging the first airhead that throws herself at him._

She sat down on her bed as she willed herself not to cry. She didn't want to think about how much it hurt to see Ron and Lavender together, how much it hurt to be turned away and rebuked by him so flippantly and easily, how much it hurt to hear the voices of her early schoolyard tormentors that called her ugly, bucktoothed, frizzy haired. In her bid to hold back her tears the ugly vindictive voice that she'd discovered reared its ugly head as Hermione replayed her threat to Ron over in her mind. She'd meant it purely as a joke, mainly because she hadn't been thinking clearly and hadn't been able to come up with a better retort, but the more she thought it over the more the more the idea made sense in her mind, the more enticing it sounded. Perhaps she would take a git to the date. _Yes,_ she thought gleefully, _if I take someone that's just as big, or even bigger, of an insensitive prat as he is he's bound to take it personally. _The more she listened to that ugly voice in her mind and thought about showing up Ron the less she paid attention to the tears that had escaped and rolled down her face.

The more she listened to that ugly vindictive side of her she listened less and less to that voice that had been with her since 1st year that told her to think about Harry.


	3. A Roller Coaster Called Stupidity

**AN**: Thank you again for the reviews.

**mrharris31- **I am using the _Harry Potter_ wiki to make sure I'm not accidentally using fanon elements. Though it's kinda odd, because if I do use fanon elements… well that's why it's a fan fiction, the _entire_ story is already using fanon.

**magitech**- Ok, now that I think about it that way that was rather dangerous of her, especially considering she couldn't have possibly practiced magic before that. This also reminds me, what the hell was Ron thinking? As far as I know no spell in anything _Harry Potter_ requires a long drawn out English poem-style incantation.

**Dancingfirelight-** The name of this story was actually a spur of the moment thing. As I was creating a new story and selecting a category, rating, etc., I realized that I didn't have a name in mind.

Anyway, here we see the effects of the fight from the previous chapter and begin the turning point in Hermione's feelings towards Harry even if she doesn't realize it yet. This is also where she stops being so angry.

Oh, I found an online version of the book _Half Blood Prince_, so now I can check to make sure I'm not screwing things up! Quite a few of the lines of dialogue are from the movie, with one of them being my favorite line from Luna.

* * *

**A Roller Coaster Called Stupidity**

It had been a few days since that fight with Ron and Hermione was _still_ seething.

In that entire time she'd done her best to avoid the red-haired moron and gave him the cold shoulder in their shared classes and at meal times. She'd spend a lot of time in the two places Ron wouldn't or couldn't enter. The library and the girl's dormitory. Unfortunately this also meant that neither Harry nor Lavender had a chance to talk to her to see how she was feeling. Harry's studies, private lessons with Dumbledore and his Quidditch captaincy kept him from rushing to Hermione's side; if Harry had free time Hermione would be holed up in her dorm or hidden away in the library. And even Harry couldn't pry away an angry Hermione from her books. Lavender had even less luck trying to talk to her. If Harry Potter, her best friend, could barely get Hermione to calm down and talk, what chance did she, girlfriend of Ron Weasley, have? As such Hermione didn't get the chance to hear Harry's reply to her Christmas party proposal nor did she get to hear Lavender's idea about her and Harry.

It was also because of this that she'd asked Zacharias Smith to Slughorn's party.

She'd considered asking Cormac McLaggen but quickly wrote him off for two reasons; the first being that she'd already admitted to considering him beforehand and as such he wouldn't have the impact Smith would, and because she knew that of the two Ron hated Smith the most. Hermione knew there was no love lost between Smith and Ron and so she'd immediately asked him to be her date, hoping to get back at him for being such a prat towards her the entire year. If Ron wanted her to go and find the biggest git she could as her date then Hermione would find the biggest git she could.

And Zacharias Smith was the biggest git there was. Well there was Draco Malfoy, but even Hermione wasn't _that_ angry that she'd ask Draco on a date.

It was a well-known fact that the not even the Hufflepuffs wanted Smith in their house. He is rude and insensitive, pushy and unpleasant, he had no sense of fair play and displayed an amazing amount of cowardice and had less loyalty than the Artic had flowers. Even better was the fact that it was Smith that had hounded on Ginny for information on the Department of Mysteries battle, had replaced Lee as the Quidditch commentator and slammed the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team and called into question Ron's position as being purely determined because Harry helped him get the position. He had also pissed Ron off several times during the D.A. meetings last year. Hermione smiled to herself. Zacharias Smith was the perfect man for the job and tonight she'd get one over on Ron for being such an arsehole.

When her stomach wambled in hunger she decided it was time to visit the Great Hall for some dinner and sweet, sweet revenge.

As she made her way towards the Great Hall she overheard several whispers and conversations that involved Harry, but didn't pay them much mind. _A lot of rumors are about Harry. _With a pang she realized that Harry probably didn't have a date tonight, knowing him he'd be too shy to ask out a girl and he'd certainly turn down any of the girls that did ask him. _Well, I'll just have to keep him company at some point._

She entered the Great Hall and immediately her eyes landed on Lavender and Ron who were, once again, intent on breaking the world record on how far a person could shove their throat down another's. She balled her hands into fists as her blood started to boil. Luckily Harry was nearby… talking to Parvati.

_Maybe Harry _did_ have a date to the party?_ She mused, aware that Parvati had been his date to the Yule Ball. _It didn't turn out great for either of them, but maybe she decided to give Harry another go? _She saw that she was in a conversation with Harry and both of them looked happy. For some reason she didn't feel as hungry anymore.

"Oh, hi, Hermione!" Parvati beamed when she spotted the resident bookworm.

"Hi, Parvati!" Hermione replied, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach. _Parvati looks really happy._ Her eyes quickly darted to Harry's. "Are you going to Slughorn's party tonight?" she asked, her hesitation masked well.

"No invite," Parvati replied with a downcast look.

_Oh good._

She didn't have time to ponder her feelings of relief as Parvati continued, "I'd love to go, though, it sounds like it's going to be really good… you're going aren't you?"

_Time to spring this plan into action._ Hermione though as she noticed Ron attempting to surreptitiously listen in on their conversation. "Yes, I'm meeting Zach at eight, and we're going up to the party together."

You could hear a pin drop.

"Zach?" Asked Parvati, clearly confused as to who she meant. There weren't any Zachs in Gryffindor. "I don't know who you mean."

"Oh you know Zach," Hermione began, hoping to put some loving emotion in her voice. "He took over as commentator for the Quidditch matches? He was in the D.A. with us last year?"

"You're going out with _him_?" Parvati asked, voicing everyone's disbelief.

"Didn't you know?" _Ok, I should have expected that response._

"No, not at all." Parvati glanced at Harry, who like the rest of the table couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I just thought-"

Hermione could see Ron out of the corner of her eye. He looked like he was about to explode. _Perfect._ "He's really sweet once you get to know him; he's a charmer and knows how to treat a lady… Well, see you…" she spared one final look towards Ron to see his reaction. "Got to go and get ready for the party." And with that she left behind a stunned Gryffindor table and a fuming Ron.

Getting ready for this date was much easier.

She didn't feel the nervousness she felt when she was getting ready for the Yule Ball with Viktor, maybe because this time she wasn't aiming to impress her date and because she had gained a greater sense of self-confidence since 4th year. She also admitted that since the Yule Ball she'd taking a liking to dressing up a bit. Getting her hair styled, putting on make-up and nice clothing wasn't so odd for her anymore, the Yule Ball had impressed on her the importance of going out and feeling pretty. Hermione wasn't quite on the level of some of the girls that plastered their faces in make-up and used glamour charms and took an hour everyday getting ready, but she did enjoy it. She smiled when she finished her make-up and hair and looked over to the dress her mother had bought her.

Her mother was a surprise.

When Hermione had originally owled her mother to ask for the money to buy a dress she'd been lukewarm about the entire situation. She'd offered to send Hermione half the cost of the dress and that Hermione could make up the rest with her own allowance or, if Hermione really needed the entire amount, she could make it up by doing chores around the house when she came back during the rest of the break. That had been reasonable but Hermione felt that her mother wasn't entirely on board with the entire idea, her letters had somehow conveyed that her mother would send her the money but would have preferred not to.

That had changed when she had owled her mother and, over the course of a few letters back and forth, she had revealed that she wasn't planning on going with Ron anymore and, in an attempt to patch up her friendship with Harry, would be going with him instead. Her mother had immediately sent all the money she could, more than double the amount she needed for her dress. To say Hermione had been surprised would be an understatement. She had been sure that her mother had accidentally sent the money, maybe she had mucked up the pound to Galleon conversion somewhere? She had sent back a letter telling her mother that she couldn't accept this much money. "It's a simple dress mother," She had written, "it doesn't cost half this much."

Her mother's response had been short and to the point.

"Buy a better dress."

She didn't initially plan to do so, she was sure Harry would appreciate the simple dress anyway, but now that she was going with Smith _and_ trying to rub Ron's face in it, she'd gone out last minute and bought a much more expensive dress. It really wasn't what she'd normally wear but in her mind it was worth it. Revenge needed to be served.

All readied up she made her way towards the Entrance Hall where several people were already waiting for their dates, several boys milling about with nervous looks with groups of giggling girls. She caught sight of Smith over by a group of his friends, some of them with their dates and some without. He broke off from the group and made his way towards her and Hermione had to suppress a shudder as he looked her up and down.

"That's a nice dress, expensive?" he asked with an appraising look that immediately insulted Hermione. She didn't want to be looked at like that, but she'd prefer that he was looking at her instead of her dress.

_Oh boy_, she inwardly cringed; _I can already tell how this is going to go._

"Yes," she answered curtly, "shall we head up or…?" She looked over at his group of friends and silently hoped that she didn't have to start their 'date' yet.

"Yes, let's head up." He said with a smirk and offered his arm, "My friends can meet us at the party, they won't mind."

"You sure about that?" she asked, somehow the idea that he'd leave his friends so easily bothered her. _Then again,_ she reasoned, _maybe they knew he'd do that? Maybe it doesn't bother them? _Seeing him nod she accepted that yes she was on a date with Zacharias Smith. "Great!" she said with fake enthusiasm and she took his offered arm, he skin crawling at the contact.

They made their way up the Grand Staircase to the sixth floor Smith began to make some small talk. "Well who do you think is going to be there? I've heard Professor Slughorn invites important people to these parties."

"Yes," Hermione began as they waited for one of the staircases to stop moving, "He seems to like cultivating connections… it no doubt makes his life easier if he can call in favors when he wants to."

"Mmmh," Smith wondered as they began to walk towards their destination again, "Maybe we'll make some connections of our own tonight?" he finished in a hopeful tone.

"Maybe we will…" she said sweetly while rolling her eyes when he wasn't looking. "Oh look, we are here."

_Well this is roomy._

The office had probably been enlarged through the use of magic or Professor Slughorn had called in some of his favors to obtain a larger than normal office. She had to admit that the Professor really knew how to decorate and throw a party. Several hangings of gold, crimson and emerald decorated the ceilings and walls. _I wonder if the colors are because most of his Slug Club members this year are Gryffindors and Slytherins?_ Her eyes were drawn upwards to a glowing lamp that flooded the entire room in a red glow that gave the already crowded office an intimate feel.

She tried not to dwell on that, or how close Smith was standing next to her, and instead tried to focus on the occupants of the room. She could see a small band- _Is that the Weird Sisters! How'd he get _them?-off in the corner, which explained the music that competed with the thrum of multiple conversations to drown out the room. She was surprised to see a group of older wizards in conversation smoking pipes. She highly doubted whatever it was they were smoking was legal within the walls of the school but figured the guests were exempt from following the school rules… that or the Professor turned a blind eye during this particular event. She scowled, the wizarding world really did have it backwards on a lot of things, there was no way anyone would get away with smoking 'recreational drugs' at any non-magical school gathering. But if she was bothered by the choice of entertainment it was the house elves that did her in.

"Ah! There you are Miss Granger!" a voice Hermione had learned to recognize called out. Professor Slughorn made his way over to her in what looked like his best suit, a hat that reminded Hermione of the Shriners adorning his head. "There you are Miss Granger; I must say you look lovely! And this must be your date, Mister…?"

"Smith" her date replied, looking slightly miffed that the Professor couldn't recognize him, "Zacharias Smith Professor, I'm in your Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff potions on Thursdays?"

"Oh yes! Now I remember you Mister Smith!" Professor Slughorn replied with a tone and face that clearly showed that he did not in fact remember, "Well, nice to see you!"

"It's good to be here Professor Slughorn." Smith replied in an unusually sweet tone.

_What a suck up._

Hermione was spared from hearing more of Smith's transparent attempts to get into the Professor's good graces when she was suddenly introduced to an older wizard.

"Ah Miss Granger, this is Mister Stormgut, he's with the International Consortium of Apothecaries and he's mighty interested in your potion brewing abilities."

"Oh hello," Hermione said in genuine surprise, "pleased to meet your Mister Stormgut."

"The pleasure is mine Miss Granger. My colleague tells me that you are one of the best students of your year and that your potions abilities are of the highest quality." The older wizard said as he shook Hermione's hand. "Have you considered a life in the potions industry?"

"No, I actually haven't." She admitted while Smith fidgeted behind her in irritation at having been so easily ignored.

"Well, that's no worry," Mister Stormgut replied smoothly as he handed her a business card that suddenly appeared in his hands. "Here is my contact information Miss Granger. If Slug here is right, and he usually is" he added with a chuckle, "you could land a job wherever you wanted. Floo or owl sometime, we can work something out at a later time, I'm sure you want to enjoy your date tonight. Good evening."

Hermione actually enjoyed the interruption, surprised that the Professor had actually talked to her to his own contacts. _Potions industry?_

She was jostled out of her thoughts when Smith nudged her towards a buffet table. "Well, that certainly went well for you, but I could see you wanted to get out of there. No need to thank me." He smirked.

She raised an eyebrow, wondering just _what _gave him that idea. "Yes, thank you." She said with fake sincerity. As they reached the buffet table and picked up some food, Hermione not feeling that hungry, they both walked over to a side of the room that was less crowded. They ate in relative silence for a few minutes, small talk popping up now and then. Hermione's only consolation was that Smith wasn't the loud and disgusting eater that Ron is.

"So," she had sensed he was eager to ask her something throughout the dinner "what do you _really_ want to talk about Sm-Zacharias?"

He smiled as he gestured a house elf over to them and simply handed the poor thing their empty cups and plates. Without so much as a word of thanks he started speaking, "Please, call me Zach." He leaned in and didn't notice that Hermione leaned away. "Actually, I figured that you could tell me what happened in the Department of Mysteries last year?"

She immediately tensed up, that entire debacle was a sore spot for her. Not because she'd been injured so badly, but because Harry had lost his godfather, Sirius Black, that night. _What gives him the right to even ask about that?_

"Well you would have known had you been there Zacharias." She said as evenly as she could.

"Hey that's not fair," he retorted, "a lot of the members of Harry Potter's Army weren't there, I just want to know what Potter was doing."

"Yes and only those members of _Dumbledore's _Army know exactly what happened." Hermione added with rising anger, making sure to correct his 'mistake' in name. "If the others want to talk about that then they can, but _I _certainly won't."

Smith's well known idiocy shone through, "Well Ron talked."

"Well I'm not Ron." She hissed, her anger rising. "And I'm not going to talk about this, so you can just drop it." She saw him move to say something else, "And no, I will not go into detail about Harry's other adventures, I'm not your personal reporter Smith and if you can't believe Harry, even after Voldemort's very public return, then you certainly won't believe me telling it straight to your face." He was almost as thick-headed as Ron.

"I just want to know why you protect him so much." He answered in a low tone, apparently not wanting to draw attention to themselves. "Ok fine, Potter was right about You-Know-Who," he said in a pained tone. Hermione didn't know if it was because he referred to Voldemort or because it hurt him to admit Harry was right and that he was wrong. "I just want to know why you of all people follow him so blindly. I've heard the rumors, every year you are right there for him and follow him on all sorts of… adventures purely on his word." He looked her in the eyes. "I just don't get why you, smart and logical, would follow that… that…"

"That what?" Hermione asked with venom in her voice.

"That arrogant prick." He went on; completely unaware that he'd just ruined any chances he figured he had with the girl across the table from him. "He's good at Defense Against the Dark Arts I admit, but he's average at everything else, he expected us to listen to him without being forthcoming about anything at all and I'd wager that most of the time he's survived all the things he's claimed he's done is because of pure dumb luck or because of you. So what I want to know is just _why_ you follow him around so much when you _know_ you are better than that."

Hermione's wand was out so fast that he didn't notice it was in her hands until she pressed it against his neck.

"Listen you little tosspot," she cursed out in one of her rare moments, "I follow Harry because he's the kindest, bravest most loyal person there could possibly be. I count my lucky stars that he went into that girl's restroom and saved my life that Halloween night and feel honored that he considers me one of his closest friends." She pressed the wand deeper into his neck, his face a priceless expression of fear. "And you! You don't get to ever speak bad about him. Do you hear me? You don't get that privilege. Harry's got more loyalty and bravery in a single hair than you could ever hope to get in your entire miserable, cowardly excuse of a life. Harry didn't want to let you into the D.A. at all, but luckily I can reverse that. Do you have your coin?" He didn't respond immediately, so Hermione pressed in again. "Do you have your coin!"

She didn't care that a few people were looking in their direction. Smith looked like he was going to cry.

"Good, give it here." He fumbled in his pocket and tossed it on the table, where she quickly reached over and snatched up the charmed item. "It was a mistake ever letting you have this, letting you into the D.A. and it was a mistake for me to ask you to be my date tonight. Go now, I don't want to see you again."

He almost ran out of the room, bumping into several people along the way. Hermione would have laughed at his exit if she hadn't been so angry at him. With that she stood up and walked away from their table, she wanted to move about and clear her head. Her plans at getting back at Ron having been forgotten over Smith's attitude. It usually didn't take so little to get her to walk away from someone in anger, Ron had helped her build up a tolerance to pig-headedness, but she didn't particularly care for Smith uneducated opinion about Harry. Maybe tomorrow Ron would laugh at her for losing her date so easily, within the hour actually, but she didn't care right now. Even Ron wasn't worth hanging around with someone that was badmouthing Harry. As she walked through the crowd she thought about that raven haired green eyed boy.

_Maybe Harry is around here somewhere?_

Harry.

_Oh, I'm so stupid. I left him dateless around here. He's probably been hounded on by Professor Sluggy… which means he'd want to be avoiding people right now so. Yes, he must be somewhere near the edge of the party, somewhere out of sight and-_

"Hermione! Hermione!"

_Oh. There he is._

…

_With Luna._

She was incredibly surprised. She knew that Harry could have easily found any witch to come with him as his date, but surprised that Harry had gone out and actually asked someone. Maybe the fact that Harry had found someone to be with completely shattered her illusion that Harry would be alone without her. It made some amount of sense, Luna and Harry were close, not as close as Harry and her, but obviously close enough. Though Hermione disagreed with alot of Luna's beliefs, she usually tried to keep her tongue if only for Harry's sake. She was Harry's friend and had offered him advice that she couldn't and had helped him deal with the loss of Sirius in her own way.

It was just a shock to see her here on Harry's arm, both of them looking quite cozy with each other.

Her outfit was… unusual, but she looked quite nice, Hermione was a bit surprised to see that she had left her radish earrings, Butterbeer-cork necklace and silly glasses. She was wearing a beaming smile and looked a little flushed. Underneath what was usually an odd and dreamy exterior was an attractive witch. Her smile faltered a bit when she looked at Hermione and, for a brief moment, Hermione felt that Luna didn't like her.

And Harry…

Harry looked great. Hermione had to admit that he looked quite spiffy in that dress robe, vest and tie. But the best part was his smile. It was contagious and Hermione couldn't help but smile in return. He looked relaxed; he looked like he was enjoying himself just as a guy with a girl on his arm at a Christmas party and not someone at the center of an oncoming war. He looked happy. Something she hadn't seen in a while. Something she hadn't seen since they had made up in the common room. Something she hadn't seen until she had that fight with Ron and completely blew him off in her own anger.

"You look nice Hermione." Harry said with sincerity.

"Oh thank you Harry." She replied, finally glad that someone noticed. She wasn't surprised that it was Harry who had done so since he always seemed to notice her. She suddenly found it hard to articulate how he looked in her eyes and finally settled on the completely lame, "You look quite keen yourself Harry." She was rewarded by a shy smile and a light coloring in his cheeks.

"So," he continued, "where's… where's Smith?"

"Oh, I've just-I mean. Well I scared him away," she said and at Harry and Luna's questioning looks she added. "He was being a bit, no not a bit, he was being a full on tosser."

"Serves you right for coming with him," Luna interrupted.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up and almost disappeared into her hair from shock. Sweet soft spoken Luna was telling her off? Harry didn't seem as shocked, which told Hermione that he agreed with the sentiment. "I thought he'd annoy Ron most," she offered as a lame excuse and suddenly felt the titanic stupidity of her actions slam into her. "I debated for a while about Cormac McLaggen, since he'd have-"

"McLaggen would have been an even bigger tosser," Harry interrupted, Luna nodding beside him.

Hermione just wanted to fall in a hole and die at this point. She had never even considered whether her plan tonight was sound and looking back on it she had to admit it was a complete and total disaster. She hadn't felt this low in years. "Can we talk about something else? Surely you two have at least had a better night than I did?"

Harry blushed and suddenly seemed to find the ceiling very interesting, while Luna smiled and looked up at Harry with…

_With what?_

_Oh._

Hermione knew _that_ look. That was the same look she'd been giving Ron recently, that was the same look girls gave Harry this entire year. That was the look people gave each other when _something_ happened.

"I would have never guessed Harry was so good at so many things." Luna added in her dreamy voice, "I knew he was a good dancer, but I guess that didn't sink in until I danced with him myself. I didn't know he was a good kis-"

"So let's talk about that Rotfang Conspiracy!" Harry cut in, a blush clear cross his face. "What was that you were telling me about it Luna? The Aurors are in on it, something Dark Magic and gum disease?"

Luna smiled and began to recount the entire sordid history of the Rotfang Conspiracy, from her father's exploits to uncover it to the official Ministry of Magic cover-up that followed.

Hermione wasn't hearing any of it.

All she could think about is that Harry and Luna had kissed. All she could think about was that Luna was the reason that Harry was so flustered and blushing like a young schoolboy and that it was Luna that had made Harry look so relaxed and happy.

Ever since the beginning of this year her emotions had been running rampant; first with affection for Ron, then with anger and resentment towards Ron, glee and warmth with Harry during their reconciliation and tonight with anger at Smith and at herself for even going through with her half-baked plan. Her emotions took control over her mind and suddenly Hermione saw Harry and Luna becoming closer and closer. Even though Luna believed in a lot of things that Hermione found ridiculous she knew the young Ravenclaw was smart. Harry could rely on her to help him write his essays or research methods to fight Voldemort. Harry would count on Luna to be there for him, like she'd been there for him last year and this year. Luna wouldn't be bossy or an insufferable know-it-all, she'd be a sweet if odd girl, she'd be his new rock and support, she'd be there for him like Hermione had been there for him. Hermione felt the pit of her stomach give out as she imagined Harry and Luna, Luna and Harry, becoming a full on couple, holding hands. Sharing more kisses during dances, snogging in secret places, falling in love and losing their virginity to each other. Hermione suddenly felt the world spinning at several thousand kilometers per hour. She saw Harry propose to a beaming Luna, their marriage and their happy new home together, their children and grandchildren.

Even though none of this had happened yet, even though she wasn't even entirely sure they fancied each other, even though she wasn't even sure the kiss had been reciprocated on Harry's end, this is what she saw. What she felt outweighed anything Ron could every do or say, anything _anyone_ could ever do or say to her. What she felt was her Harry, her immovable center around which her world rotated, being snatched away.

Had Hermione bothered to clear her head and examine what she felt, she'd have realized then and there why it was that the mere _idea_ of Harry falling in love with Luna hurt her more than the sight of Ron snogging Lavender ever could.

She was so caught up in her emotions that she didn't notice Harry or Luna trying to get her attention, nor did she notice Draco's interruption to the party, nor did she notice Harry excuse himself to the restroom a while later.

"I need to get out of here." She suddenly declared, startling Luna who then gave her an odd look. "Uh, Luna, look, tell Harry I left. I, I hope you have a nice time toge-" She turned and headed straight for the exit, Luna hot on her heels.

"Hermione, wait, I need to talk to you." Luna's gentle voice rang out.

"I'm a bit under the weather at the moment, Luna." Hermione replied as she almost stumbled out of the room.

"You won't learn anything where you're going, you're wasting your time." The blonde Harry-stealer said, a bit of impatience seeping into her tone.

She was almost out of the room by now, away from Harry and Luna and their happy date. "Well talk later, okay?" Hermione almost pleaded.

"Hermione!"

"Later!"

"Hermione Granger! You listen to me right now!" Luna finally screamed, startling several people nearby. Even her yelling sounded soft and dreamy. "You don't get to do this to him Hermione Granger. You don't get to shun him for the entire school year and make him feel miserable, you don't get to prop him up when you make up with him and then crush his happiness just because Ron opened his stupid mouth." Hermione found herself on the receiving end of a death glare with Luna's finger jamming into her chest as she made each and every point. "I've finally gotten Harry to open up tonight to calm down and feel as if everything is alright and I don't care if you are his best friend, but you don't get to ruin his night just because you realized what a witch you've been!" Hermione was completely stunned at the young girl's outburst, Luna suddenly pointed back towards the party doors, startling her and a few nearby people with the sudden movement. "Now you march back into that party before Harry comes back and finds us both gone, you march back in there and you pretend everything is fine!"

Hermione, too stunned to say anything, simply nodded and allowed herself to be dragged back into Slughorn's Christmas party. She stood there, warily eying Luna, until Harry came back a while later looking quite distressed.

"Everything come out fine Harry?" Luna asked in her usual voice. Hermione had no idea how she'd switched back to her normal persona so fast.

"What?" Harry asked, before blushing heavily. "Oh. Yes Luna, everything came out fine."

"Good," Luna continued, "because you look like you've been infested with Nargles, and those sometimes make people forget even basic things. It'd be a shame if they'd make you forget how to use the toilet."

Hermione stood there and watched them banter back and forth and, when Harry or Luna turned their attention back at Hermione, she joined in with jokes or tried to include herself in the conversation. If Harry noticed her odd mood he didn't say anything because he knew Hermione would tell him later or, and this idea made Hermione feel terrible, he was too happy to care at the moment. The party continued on, dragged on in Hermione's opinion, and eventually Luna led Harry over to the dance floor. The sight of the two of them nearly caused Hermione to simply run out of that party and not look back.

The highlight of the entire night was when the two came back and Harry asked Hermione for a dance and led her into the dance floor. The band started playing a slow song and it was with some hesitation that Hermione allowed herself to relax in Harry's arms. It wasn't as if she could resist, she was just so comfortable in his embrace. They silently and slowly swayed to the music and overtime they held each other closer.

"I'm sorry Hermione," he whispered in her ear, causing her to look up at him in surprise. "For Smith I mean. You didn't deserve that… whatever he did tonight." Hermione simply rested her head against his chest again. She couldn't believe him, apologizing on Smith's behalf even though it had been Hermione's stupid idea to bring him along. "And about Ron," he went on, "I'm sorry about him too. He's my best friend, but you deserve better than how he's treating you."

Hermione was emotionally exhausted, it was late, the gentle music and dancing and Harry's comforting embrace was putting her to sleep.

_I've got better Harry._ _I've got you._


	4. Morning After Failure

**AN**: Thank you all for those reviews and favorite/add things again. I was iffy about that last chapter, since I thought it made more sense to break it up between Hermione's date with Smith and subsequent fight and then another chapter for Hermione being confronted by Luna, but both segments were too short on their own, so I decided to mix them together. I wasn't sure how people would respond to both of them in the same chapter, but I guess people liked it.

Also, I don't know how public Harry was with the death of Sirius and who he told. This fanfic assumes he never told anyone at Hogwarts what happened. The only people who know are the people who were there.

This chapter Hermione and Lavender chat about Harry. Also, tried to imagine why Lavender likes Ron without making her a blonde stupid bimbo and hopefully the reason I cooked up makes some sense.

* * *

**Morning After Failure**

Hermione groaned as she realized that she would not be getting any sleep with sunlight hitting her eyes.

"She either had a _very_ bad night or a great one." A voice Hermione recognized as Parvati's rang out, "But since she went with Smith of all people I'm betting on the former."

"I can't believe she went out with Zacharias though," another voice, Fay's, added in. "Ugh," she shuddered, "She must be really desperate to try _that_."

"I can hear you you know!" Hermione growled as she pushed open her bed's curtains and glared at her dorm mates. Unfortunately her glare was ruined when she had to shield her eyes from the sunlight. _Why's it so bright in here?_

"We know you can hear us," Parvati said, "But we figured since you kept us up last night with your tossing and turning it'd be fair for us to talk about you." She flinched a bit when she saw Hermione renew her glare at her. "Besides Hermione, it's 9 in the morning and-"

"9 in the morning!" Hermione jumped off of her bed, "The Express leaves at 11:30 and I'm not even packed! I haven't even had breakfast! Or showered!" She started frantically packing her clothing and books away, nearly tripping over herself in the process. "I can't believe I slept in..." She muttered as she tried to make up for lost time.

"Whoa Hermione," Fay exclaimed with wide eyes, "You _slept_ in your dress?"

"Yes I did." The resident bookworm replied in a defeated tone, "Or I tried to."

Fay looked over at Parvati while Hermione's back was still turned. Maybe they weren't as close to Hermione as they were with Lavender and Clara but they knew she was going through a tough time.

"Here Hermione," Parvati said as she stood up from her spot on Fay's bed, the other girl rising with her. "We'll pack your stuff for you, you go shower and get out of that silly dress."

Hermione looked over at the two girls with a wary look, her mood brightening considerably when she realized that they were being serious and were offering help. "Thanks," she said with a smile. "I appreciate it." The two girls came over and started organizing her books and clothing, Fay using magic to speed up the process and Parvati handing her a change of clothes and towel before pointing her in the direction of their shared bathroom. Hermione spared another glance at the two to make sure this wasn't some terrible prank where they'd simply start throwing her belongings around the room. It wasn't.

Sometimes it was good to have friends.

It was a few minutes later that Hermione emerged from the bathroom, her wild and bushy hair still fighting her attempts to dry it. She looked up into the room to see her bags packed, Parvati and Fay gone and their dormitory empty save for Lavender Brown.

"Parvati and Fay went over to the common room." She explained the absence of the two other girls. "Clara's gone down to Hogsmeade with some other friends before everyone leaves."

"Oh," Hermione said as she finished drying off her hair. "Well, I guess I'll have to thank them before I leave, or maybe send them letters over the holidays."

"Looks like." Lavender replied as she eyed the dress Hermione carried in her arms. "So, you want to talk about last night?"

Hermione looked at the girl, debating with herself whether or not she wanted to have this conversation with her. She had to admit that besides Ginny, she didn't have many female friends to discuss these things with. Hermione sighed as she realized she was between a rock and a hard place; she could either talk to Lavender, Ron's girlfriend, and share her confusion about Harry and Luna's date in addition to the conflicting feelings it brought on or she could talk to Ginny, Ron's sister and the girl who had held the torch for Harry all her life about her conflicting feelings about Ron, Harry and Luna.

Hermione wondered what had happened to her 9 year old self who had promised that she would never get into this much headache over boys. Her mother, who was nearby when she heard this declaration, had simply smiled and laughed at her, saying "Just you wait." If her mother knew what was going she'd never hear the end of it.

"Sure," she finally replied. "I'd like to talk." She made her way back to her bed and this time motioned for Lavender to sit down too. "So what am I talking about?"

"You tell me," the other girl replied as she sat down on Hermione's bed, silently noting that this is the first time anyone besides Ginny has sat here. "Was it Smith?"

"Yes and no." Hermione said. "He, he started asking questions about the Department of Mysteries." She looked at Lavender, who simply stared at her to continue. "And I'm a little touchy about that subject. He has some nerve asking about that _especially_ with the way he acted towards Harry throughout all the D.A. meetings."

Lavender suddenly frowned, "What does Harry have to do with it?"

Hermione bit her tongue. "My tongue slipped Lavender. It's not that I don't want to tell you because… because it's you or anything of that sort. But it relates to Harry and he's still upset about it and maybe he always will be. It's not my place to tell."

Lavender leaned in, some hesitation evident in her voice. "Is this about his godfather?"

Hermione took in a sharp breath, "How did you know?" she asked in a whisper.

"Ron told me," she added with an apologetic whisper of her own. "I'm sorry, but he told me a lot but don't worry!" she added when she saw the look of anger on Hermione's face. "I haven't told anyone. Harry wasn't telling anyone so I won't either. Harry's a good bloke, and even I know Ron crossed a line there."

"He had no right Lavender. Ron had no right to tell you that." Hermione hissed, her good mood having been destroyed by Ron's inability to think before he spoke. It was a wonder that he was able to destroy her mood even when he wasn't in the same room as her with actions that took place long ago. "And Smith! He almost demanded that I tell him what happened. He second guessed Harry at every corner, he belittled him when he tried to instruct us in the D.A., he purposefully taunted Harry to show off spells or speed up the sessions, he's an insufferable, cowardly git." She growled in frustration as her eyes shone with anger and indignation, her mind replaying the scene before her eyes. "He has no right at all to question Harry! And to think that he thought he'd get anything out of me after he insulted Harry right in front of me! He's almost as thick-headed as Ron is! I pulled out my wand on him-" Lavender gasped, "-and almost hexed him up and down the castle. And I would have been entirely right to do so!"

"You really pulled your wand on him?" Lavender asked after a moment, "The rumor mill was that you lamped him. From the sounds of it he got off lightly." She joked, though in her mind she wondered if facing Hermione Granger's glare and fury was less painful than simply being knocked out. At Hermione's questioning look she continued. "Hermione, your blow up with him was very public, everyone knew almost immediately… and yes, Ron has been making fun of you for "scaring off her date" since he found out. Sorry, but I don't think you'd want to go into the common room right now, he's probably still there."

"And you aren't?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not too keen on his humor at the moment."

"Thanks."

"So," Lavender continued, "not that Smith doesn't sound like a total arse, but I doubt he's the reason you lost so much sleep last night. What was it; you kicked him to the curb in about an hour? You got back really late last night and something tells me he isn't the reason you came back home in the state you did."

Hermione debated whether she wanted to go into this or not. She wasn't even sure why she had felt that or what it meant or _what_ she had actually felt. She glanced at the dormitory clock, wondering if they even had time for this. She hoped they didn't.

"Oh we have at least an hour before we start heading down to the station." Lavender mentioned when she saw her friend glance at the clock. "I really think you shouldn't keep this bottled up, but if you want to-"

"No, it's fine Lavender. I'm just not sure what happened." Hermione sighed and threw herself back on her bed and, with an almost defeated tone, admitted, "It's because of Harry."

"Because of Harry?" Lavender asked, her face slightly scrunched in confusion.

"Well… because of Harry and Luna actually." Hermione closed her eyes as she lay in bed, she'd simply speak what was on her mind and not overthink her words before she did, rationalizing that if she had to consider every single thing before she spoke they'd get nowhere. She'd tried to analyze every single view point last night and didn't get any sleep and didn't get anywhere with this mystery. "They were each other dates last night you know?" She looked over at Lavender, who looked intensely interested in the conversation, wondering if somehow that little piece of information had also gotten around. _Knowing Harry's luck it did._

"Yes," Lavender answered, "It was known even _before_ the party. Peeves went about declaring "Potty lurves Loony! Potty Lurves Loony!" It was actually quite funny how fast that caused a stir." She paused as she looked at Hermione's expression, Lavender could swear someone had just told her that they'd never make any new books. Ever. "I take it you didn't know?" Hermione shook her head. "I take it that it bothered you seeing them together?"

"They kissed."

Lavender didn't know _that_ piece of information. Harry Potter's date to the Christmas Party was big news, even bigger that he was going with Luna "Loony" Lovegood of all people, but no one had mentioned anything about them kissing. How did that stay a secret for so long? "How do you know?"

"I know," was Hermione's cryptic answer. "When I saw them at the party, they looked very happy together. You could tell they were having a good time, she was about to mention that Harry is a good kisser when he cut her off and tried to change the subject and I could tell. Anyone could tell really. She was looking at him with that look..." Hermione trailed off. "What do you think that means?" she suddenly asked Lavender, her eyes boring into her own as if she could find the answer there.

"You don't think they are a couple do you?" Lavender suggested and immediately regretted it; Hermione looked like they had now told her they would now burn all the books in the world. She had to tread carefully here, Hermione looked like a wreck and she didn't want to add to her already large pile of Ron-induced emotional stress with a mountain of Harry-induced stress to that equation. Even Hermione Granger had a breaking point. "Is it because of Luna? You don't like her, or think she's using Harry do you?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean both. I don't get along with her as much as Harry does… she believes in so many silly things. Imaginary creatures, conspiracies of all kinds, silly superstitions that have no basis in fact. She takes things on blind faith rather than evidence, she's… she's… she's just so _loony." _Lavender was surprised at the girl's tone. "Yes, she's Harry's friend. Maybe she's the closest female friend he has besides me, I don't know since I'm rarely there to see their interactions," she paused for a moment and Lavender had the distinct feeling that Hermione was seeing them during last night's party or imagining all sorts of private moments between the two. "I guess she's nice enough. She's sweet enough, and she's helped him this year and the last. Believed him about Voldemort," Lavender flinched, both because of the mention of You-Know-Who and because she had once believed Harry was making everything up, "believed him about the Thestrals. She... well they have some things in common. They've both lost people they love," Hermione knew about Luna's mother from a short conversation she had with Harry, "so they can help each other, support each other through that better than other people would, people with families." Hermione was silent as she realized she was talking about herself. "I suppose she's also Harry's type, or at least partially. He seems to go after shorter girls; he did like Cho last year. She does have nice fair skin, and I suppose he'd like her long blonde hair, lots of guys like blondes, and she's got a soft voice."

"So what you are saying," Lavender cut in, she really wasn't able to stand Hermione's voice as it started to descend into a pit of sadness, "is that you personally don't get along with Luna so much, but you also admit that she'd be good for him and really you'd have no reason to object to them becoming a couple? Aside from the fact that you don't like her so much."

"Yes." The bookworm admitted, "And I should be happy for Harry. If he does like Luna and if she does like him back and if they do get-if-well I should be happy! He deserves someone especially since," she turned to look at Lavender, a look full of shame on her face, "since Ron and I haven't really been there for him."

"And still you don't think he should be with her?"

"Yes!" Hermione was clearly exasperated now. "And I have no clue why I feel like this."

"Hey," she began slowly and steadily, with a tone someone uses to break terrible news to a loved one, "do you think that maybe, just maybe, you like Harry as more than just your best friend?"

Hermione's hesitation spoke many more volumes than anything she could put into words. Hermione sighed and shook her head, the idea had crossed her mind, however briefly, and she had either ignored it or tried to tell herself it was a silly dead end, the work of an overactive mind. There was no reason why she would fancy Harry as more than a best friend.

"Please Lavender, not you too?" Hermione almost pleaded. "I need serious help here and not more rumor mongering."

"I am being serious. Think about it, and I mean really think about it. What do you feel when you see me and Ron?"

"Anger, disgust, revulsion, a need to pull out my hair or pull out Ron's hair, a burning desire to hex Ron right in his tes-"

"Okay! I get it." Hermione at least had the decency to look abashed at her outburst. "But can you at least imagine that maybe; just maybe, me and Ron could be in love?"

Hermione looked over at her and had to admit that there were a lot of guys that could fall for her. Lavender had a nice figure, she was frequently flirted with and, she admitted, she was nicer and smarter than she initially given her credit for. Really, she had everything that a man could look for in a woman. Maybe she wasn't incredibly smart but Hermione knew that being incredibly smart was not high on the list of things men wanted. Her relationship with Ron was, from what Hermione knew, smooth and easy going, they didn't seem to fight or have disagreements, they seemed to enjoy the same things so it wasn't too hard to imagine them falling in love with each other. "Yes, I can imagine. Are you?"

"No." Lavender replied flatly. "For all the snogging we've been doing I know that Ron wasn't long term relationship material." Hermione's eyebrows quirked up in curiosity. "He is funny, he's gaining a sense of confidence and I find him attractive… but he wasn't mature enough for me. He gets angry easily, he has some jealousy issues, maybe being in a family and being the youngest son made him feel… inadequate? You know, sometimes I wonder if that why we snog all the time. None of his brothers have had girlfriends be so public with them; I get the feeling that he might be using me to one up his brothers in some way." Hermione frowned and gave her an apologetic look, realizing that Ron and Lavender's relationship wasn't as rosy as she thought it was. Lavender shrugged and continued, "Maybe I know my relationship with him won't go anywhere beyond snogging, but I'm fine with that and I enjoy that. Maybe one day, maybe next week or month or next year, he'll be a great guy. And maybe if I met him during that time I'd fall for him. But he's not that guy right now and I met him as he is right now. I appreciate that he can offer a good time," she blushed slightly, "and I'll always look back on him fondly. Back to my question," she started to bring back the conversation on track. "You can imagine him falling in love with me; can you imagine him falling in love with someone else? You know what? Let's take love out of this; can you imagine him getting a new girlfriend if we broke up today? Can you imagine him going out to snog some other girl?"

Hermione looked a little green and a little angry; she closed her eyes to imagine just that and grimaced. "Yes I can imagine. I don't like it but I can imagine. But this has what to do with Harry?"

"Hold on girl," Lavender smirked, "I'm trying to build up a case here. I finally get the chance to help out the brains of the Golden Trio and I plan to enjoy it." She received a playful glare in return. "Ok, now imagine Harry and Luna kissing."

"But I know they've kissed."

"That's great Hermione," Lavender said with a hint of exasperation, "but that's not what I asked. I asked you to imagine them kissing. Here, I'll help you." Lavender had a very serious look of concentration on her face as she lifted both of her hands in front of her with her index fingers pointing out. She gestured to her right hand "Imagine this little finger here is Harry Potter."

Hermione could only watch in stunned silence, she prayed Lavender wasn't going where she thought she was going.

"And this other finger," Lavender replied while she glanced at her other hand, wiggling her finger in the process, "is Luna Lovegood."

_Please tell me she isn't going to-_

"And this is them kissing." Lavender replied in a serious tone as she played out finger Harry and finger Luna passionately snogging. She pressed her fingers together and Hermione nearly lost it when she started adding in her imitations of them. "Oh Harry!" she replied in the closest imitation of Luna that she could, "you are such a good kisser!" "Luna" she replied in a husky imitation of Harry, "You have such soft lips! Why don't we take this into the bedroom and get your-" whatever she was going to play out or say was abruptly cut short when Hermione slapped her hands away.

"Lavender this is serious! What are you 8 years old?" Hermione replied, her hair bristling in anger, "I'm asking you for advice about this and here you are playing puppet finger theatre! I swear this was a mistake, I'm leaving right now!" She made to move and gather her belongs when she was stopped by Lavender's hand on her arms.

"Ok, I admit I went a bit far, but believe me, I'm going somewhere with this."

"No you aren't, you're being childish."

"Ok fine. I am." Lavender replied, "But my question still stands, can you imagine them kissing?" She saw Hermione wasn't going to cooperate until she apologized correctly. "I'm sorry Hermione, you are right. Here you are with a problem and I did something inappropriate, but please, can you try to answer my question? I'll promise not to do that again."

Hermione calmed down a bit, she was interested in knowing what the main gist of Lavender's argument was and figured that Lavender had been a good friend so far, she should get the chance to at least finish this conversation properly.

It also helped that she suddenly heard Ron's loud bellowing from the common room.

"Ok, I'll try." She said as she sat back on her bed, Lavender giving her an encouraging smile. Hermione closed her eyes again, biting her lip in concentration. In her mind's eye she saw Harry, looking smashingly fanciable in his dress robes and tall and smiling and laughing and dancing with Luna in her unique choice of dress. They laughed and giggled, they moved slowly and talked to each other in low tones and caressed each other like lovers did, Harry caressing her face and Luna running her hands through his hair. They danced so closely to each other, it seemed as if they'd die if they left each other's embrace, they breathed each other's scent and essence in and during a romantic slow dance, Luna, with rosy cheeks, tip toed up to Harry with her eyes closed and leaned in, Harry responding in-

"Can't do it." Hermione finally said as she opened her eyes again, cursing her mind for going so far and being so fantastically vivid.

"Of course." Lavender jumped off of Hermione's bed, startling the bushy haired girl, and turned to face away from her in an effort to hide her triumphant grin. "I know exactly what the problem is here, though I wouldn't exactly call it a problem." She suddenly whipped around and pointed a finger at Hermione, "You, Hermione Granger, are in love with Harry Potter!"

A moment passed while Hermione took in her words and a small smile seemed to grace her lips before she scowled, she started to say something but was cut off by Lavender. She wouldn't get a chance to weasel out of this one.

"You, Hermione, haven't even attempted to win Ron from me since we started dating. All you've done is argue with him and storm off in a rage. You attempted to get him jealous by taking Smith as your date, but even you have to admit that this was a halfhearted attempt, one that failed spectacularly. For all your jealousy you haven't fought _for_ Ron, you've fought _with_ Ron." Hermione seemed to consider her words, searching for a rebuttal, but Lavender wouldn't let her get a single word in. "Hermione, you couldn't name a single thing that you liked about Ron when I asked you why you happened to like him, all you did was give vague excuses that could, and do, apply to just about anyone. You simply sat there and let me tear down your dreams about him. Sure, you still like him and care about him, but if you had loved him, as I think you think you do," she paused momentarily at her awkward language before going on, "you would have been able to tell me all sorts of things with that large vocabulary in that brain of yours. You'd have told me he completes you, you'd have told me he's the first thing in your mind when you wake up, you'd have told me he shone like the sun in your eyes and burned like a fire in your soul, but you didn't." Hermione flinched, somewhere deep down she knew Lavender was right.

"But then there's Harry."

Lavender paused for effect, Hermione looking at her expectantly.

"You rush to his side whenever he is in danger, you are always around him, you hug and you caress each other. Yes you do," she said when she saw Hermione try to interrupt, "and _that's_ how comfortable you are with him, you don't even notice anymore. It might as well be breathing. Hermione, ask anyone, the amount of times you hug him, hold his hand, smile at him, look at him, how fast you run to him when he calls, how easily you find yourself in conversation or comfortable silence with him, how comfortable you look with each other. Hermione you can't even imagine him being with another girl. It is so far out of your realm of possibilities that you don't consider it any more than anyone would consider 1 plus 1 equaling, I don't know, the color purple. Look at how easily you defend him!" she exclaimed as she picked up steam. "I remember when I said I didn't believe him about You-Know-Who and you went off on me for almost an hour! You publicly and totally humiliated Smith last night because he dared to question Harry, because he said something bad about him that offended you so much that you pulled a wand on him! You! Of all people, surely you knew you could have been expelled? I bet you did, and I bet you didn't give a single care, that could have been Merlin himself badmouthing Harry and you'd be down his throat for daring to do so. Admit it Hermione, you are in love with your best friend. You love Harry."

"Lavender," she growled in frustration. She couldn't believe she'd sat through this entire talk just to hear _this_ of all things. If she wanted to hear this she'd have read the _Daily Prophet,_ or talked to any of the students around Hogwarts, or Ginny, or the teachers, or anyone. "Harry is my best friend-"

"All the more reason to fall in love with him."

Hermione went on, ignoring her interruption, "-so of course I'd defend him-"

"Because he's special to you!"

"-because he's already suffered so much-"

"Which makes you want to hold him and tell him everything will be alright." Lavender finished.

Hermione bit her lip in frustration, "He loves me like a sister and I love him like a brother."

"Right…" Lavender rolled her eyes, "And you'd know what brotherly love is from what experience? He'd know what it's like to have a sister because… why exactly?"

A few moments passed while Hermione seemed to consider her words, maybe she wasn't believing them, but at least she was thinking about them.

"Listen, our time is almost up, we should head down to the station pretty soon, but can you do something for me?"

Hermione nodded slowly, unsure of what she was asking.

"You're parents, the teeth doctors, they love each other right?" Lavender asked, momentarily forgetting the correct technical term for dentists. She saw the bookworm nod, and went on to explain "Ok. During the holiday break, I want you to ask your mom or your dad if _they_ could imagine each other with anyone else. Consider all the happily married couples you know, consider how they act to each other. Then consider the relationship you have with Ron and the relationship you have with Harry. Then, I want you to sit down somewhere and _think about it._ Because this should be clear Hermione. Please? What do you have to lose?"

Hermione stared off into space for a while and Lavender feared that she'd lost her. She had a pensive look on her face, as if she was weighing the options. She either tried to solve this out on her own, or she took up Lavender's advice and went through with this little experiment. Finally she nodded, "Alright Lavender. You are right, what do I have to lose?" She stood up and started gathering his belongings, ready to leave for the holiday break. "And Lavender?"

"Yes?" She said beaming at her friend, hopeful that by the next time she saw the bookworm she'd have it figured out.

"Even if this doesn't pan out the way you seem to want it to. Even if it turns out I don't love Harry. Thank you, for talking to me about this, for letting me vent. It'd be easy for you to hate me for, because I'm holding a torch for Ron, yet you didn't. So thanks."

"It's fine Hermione."

_You can thank me _after_ you realize how stupid you've been._


	5. The Learning Train

**AN**: Thank you all for the reviews and story alerts and favorites. It really helps me stay focused on this.

**Bridgetlynn & sappheiros** – I'm trying to keep Luna ambiguous in this story since this story is from Hermione's point of view (except chapter 1, which seems kinda like it's from Lavender's POV for some reason) and as such, she doesn't know what's up with Luna either. My aim wasn't to make her look bitchy, but ok, I can see how that happened.

**LeoHiggins**- I take it you don't like the "Harry visits the Granger's house" route?

**Katesmom2**- Thanks. The main part of the reason I've never seen movie 5, 6 and 7 (I did see the last part of 7 though) was because some friends told me it started bringing up romance between Harry-Cho-Ginny and Hermione-Ron. I lost interested in the canon _Harry Potter_ since those pairings made no sense to me.

Hope you like this chapter, because I wasn't feeling it as I neared it's end.

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**The Learning Train**

It had only been a few minutes after the Hogwarts Expressed had pulled out of Hogsmeade Station, its engine shooting out plumes of smoke as it chugged along the railroad, that Hermione had the urge to glance over at Harry now and then. Luckily the boy didn't seem to be paying her any attention, instead he was just looking wistfully out the window as he started at the landscape slowly pass by, and now the silence was killing her. The only words they'd had since meeting up in the Common Room and heading down to the station on their own were over Ron who had already gone ahead with Lavender and hoped to find a compartment all to themselves, an idea that made Hermione cringe in disgust.

"As a Prefect I should barge in on them and dock points from both of them." Was all she had said on that matter, even though Harry could tell she wanted to say more.

Hermione was feigning reading her Arithmancy book, "To get a head start on the essay assigned over the break" she had explained, and glanced over at her best friend with every flick of her page. And after every line she pretended to read. Or after every word. The only time she had been caught staring she immediately gave the excuse that she was pondering the scholarly debate between the usage of the Agrippan or the Chaldean method and if differences in their results were of any significance. Harry simply started at her with a blank expression on his face before flashing her a grin. "And here I was thinking you were just trying to break the silence, but alas!" He made a show of putting his hand on his forehead in a dramatic sign, "you find books more interesting than me. I see how it is."

"Why yes I do," she said in mock seriousness as she played along. "I thought you knew by now that books are my best friend Mister Potter, you have no hope of competing against them."

Harry gave another show as he gave an exaggerated pout. "You're breaking my heart, and here I thought you were one of the good ones."

Something about his words suddenly made her incredibly nervous, causing her to laugh in attempt to relax herself. Harry's laugh, on the other hand, was genuine and musical as he was seemingly unaware of her uncomfortable laughter.

"Great," he said as he sat upright and leaned in a bit closer, "I really would have hated to sit here in silence for the next few hours.

"Me too," she replied genuinely, her book forgotten as she set it down beside her. "So…" she began, seeing her chance. "You look relaxed today, not a touch of drowsiness on you despite the fact that you were out late last night. You and Luna had a good time?"

"Yes we did," Harry said with a smile that caused dread to well up inside Hermione, "I honestly thought I'd be bored to tears at Slughorn's party and I had my doubts about asking Luna, but it turned out great in the end." Harry blushed as he remembered their kiss which was entirely unexpected though not unappreciated, Hermione noticed and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"So…" she began as nonchalantly as she could, "why'd you ask Luna?" As soon as she asked she realized it was a daft question, both of them knew that he had asked Luna because he was dateless. And of course both of them knew that he was dateless because she had flown off her handle and stormed off before Harry could accept her invitation to be each other's dates to the party.

"Well…" Harry started with some trepidation, "it was the day of the party and I still didn't have a date when I bumped into Luna. I have no clue why I asked her, the words came out of my mouth before I could stop them and next thing I knew I told her I'd meet her in the Entrance Hall at 8 o'clock." Harry smiled, glad that he was able to get that out without bringing up just why he didn't have a date, especially since that reason was sitting across from him and he'd rather not rub that in her face.

Hermione knew this was her chance to apologize, again, to Harry for being so terrible. It really made her first apology seem so hollow and fake, how would it sound to apologize for completely going back on a previous apology? _"Hey Harry, I'm sorry that I wasn't really sorry and that I blew you off?" I'm sure that'll sound about as Hagrid's assurances that none of his creatures are dangerous._ But she was sorry, she was sincere and that, she had always been told, was what really mattered when asking someone for forgiveness. "Harry, I'm so-"

"No. Don't."

Her words died in her mouth as she was completely taken aback at his interruption.

"Don't apologize, like I said, things turned out great. As much as I would have liked to go with you, Luna was great. I had a good time, I relaxed and, even though we usually have so much fun Hermione, you and I both know we wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves as much as we did last night had we gone with each other."

"Oh?" Hermione couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice.

"Yes," Harry calmly replied having noticed her hurt expression, "You'd have been distracted about Ron the entire night."

Somewhere in the back of her mind she felt that these were the most hurtful words he had ever said to her, but the rational part of her mind told her that he didn't mean it that way. It also told her that it was true, how could she argue that? She had thought of nothing but Ron and how to get back at him all throughout the days leading up to the party, she had based her entire appearance and choice of date solely on Ron. Even if she had gone with Harry she doubted that would have changed. _Surely_, she reasoned with herself, _I wouldn't have been as obvious about it, but I'd still be thinking of getting Ron jealous._ And Harry didn't deserve a date that would have rather have been with Ron, he deserved a date that would have been focused solely on having a good time at that party. And that date had been Luna.

"You're right Harry," she whispered.

"So excited to see your parents again?" Harry asked, oblivious to her inner turmoil. "Do you have anything special planned?"

Hermione held off trying to push the issue, Harry didn't seem bothered or angry at her since, beside some temporary silence, he didn't seem angry or bothered by her and had accompanied her as soon as she entered the common room, helped her get to the Great Hall in time for a quick breakfast, and even offered to carry her luggage for her. All in all, he seemed as fine and happy with her as any other time.

"Yes I am," she began, thoughts of the upcoming holidays uplifting her mood, "I write my parents all the time, I do love spending time with them. As for your second question, no my parents were never the partying type, but we did usually have our neighbors and a few family members visit us."

"Usually?" Harry asked.

"Usually," she repeated. "This year I think it'll just be my parents and me because our neighbors are off on some sort of cruise and my uncle married and moved to Russia. That sounds dull compared to the usual Weasley get together you are heading off towards," she smiled as she saw Harry laugh at her jibe at the Weasley's, "but it's just as good in my opinion."

"That sounds nice actually," Harry added before leaning in. "Actually Hermione, can I tell you something?" he added in a conspiratorial whisper. "Sometimes I wish the Weasley's weren't so… lively. Don't get me wrong," he hastily added at her shocked expression, "I love the Weasley family, as if they were my own, but sometimes I can't get a moment of peace and quiet at the Burrow."

Hermione started giggling. "That's what you were whispering about? What, are you afraid Missus Weasley is going to hear you and reprimand you for your… disapproval over her family size? Scared of getting a Howler in the mail?" She started laughing before an idea struck her. She stood up and cast a silencing charm over their compartment before turning back to her friend. "HARRY JAMES POTTER!" she suddenly yelled, scaring Harry white "HOW DARE YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT BEING CROWDED AT THE BURROW! THIS THE THANKS WE GET FOR TAKING YOU IN DURING THE HOLIDAYS! SO WHAT IF YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO WAIT AN HOUR TO USE THE RESTROOM WE-" she couldn't keep up her Molly Weasley imitation anymore and collapsed onto Harry in a fit of laughter, unprepared to suddenly have her fall on him he tried to catch her and both ended up on the floor of their compartment. "You should have seen your face!" She said between peals of laughter, "You-you looked so terrified! _Exactly _what her children look like when she gets mad at them!" Harry soon recovered and join in on the laughter, unsure if he was laughing at her prank or simply because her own mirth was contagious.

"Merlin Hermione! You scared the wits out of me!"

They both stayed there, laughing off their heads, stress and tension being eased away in the process. They simply took the excuse of a good joke worth a quick laugh to stay in each other's arms for any length of time. Their laughter descended into giggles and finally the occasional suppressed snicker.

"Ooooh Harry," Hermione announced, her voice low and slightly raspy. Her throat slightly hurting because of the strain she'd just put it through.

"Hermione?" She saw heard him whisper as his eyes were suddenly giving her a look she'd never seen on his face before. She was suddenly aware of the close proximity of their bodies, their arms and legs tangled with each other as they lay on the floor, their breathing coming out in short pants as they gathered their breath after their laughing session. She suddenly felt him tighten his hold on her, his arms moving to hold her as gently as he could and her heart hammered in her chest as she saw him begin to lean in.

"Harry?" she stupidly asked, unsure why she was interrupting whatever it was that was about to happen.

Hermione's blood was boiling in a good way as Harry continued to slowly lean in, his eyes half closed and his lips drawing increasingly closer to her own.

"Harry, what are you doing?" she continued, mentally kicking herself as he abruptly stopped.

"I, uh, weren't you-" he asked, his hands shaking as they held her, his eyes wide in surprise.

"I was asking you if my voice changed," she explained, noting the dreamy look on his face and her own heart thundering in her chest. "Since I think I strained it with all that shouting and laughing."

She could feel the embarrassment roll off him in waves as he suddenly leaned back as far as their cramped space allowed. "Yes it's… different. You probably did strain it."

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"What were _you_ doing?"

They were both startled when the door to their compartment suddenly flung open and an angry looking Ron stormed in, causing both of them to hit their heads against the compartment seats in their mad dash to disentangle themselves from each other.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Ron demanded, his face contorted into a furious glare.

Hermione was holding her head in pain, she was sure she'd form a bruise later and Ron's accusatory tone and glare wasn't helping her growing headache in any way. Harry was the first to get back on his feet, and offered Hermione a hand, pulling her up and holding her steady. "Thank you," she said as she noticed the small blush that still colored his face.

"Well?" Ronald demanded a second time.

"_Nothing_ is going on here Ronald." She said as she straightened out her robes and tried to control her hair before helping Harry do the same as he flashed her a grateful smile.

"Then what's all this then?" Ron asked with mad gestures in their direction. "This doesn't seem like nothing, this seems awfully cozy for nothing."

"Ron," Harry snapped, "We were having a laugh and fell, that's all. Now drop it."

Hermione's head was drowned out in conflicting feelings. The moment she had just shared with Harry was at the forefront of her mind. She was positive that Harry was leaning in to kiss her and she was positive that she had wanted him to. And that was wrong. Ron was sitting right there, the boy she had a crush on, the center of her affections, her best friend. That Ron had a girlfriend and hadn't been the nicest person to her didn't seem to alleviate any of the guilt she felt at the moment, she'd never thought of herself as the kind of girl that would have feelings for someone and want _something_ to happen with another person. And yet that was exactly what she was doing.

Her feelings for Harry were also incredibly mixed up at the moment. Not only did she wanted Harry to kiss her but what perplexed her most was that Harry was the one that started to lean into her, Harry was the one that started preparing to kiss her. Harry had wanted to kiss her! The idea of kissing him caused her heart to speed up and for an intense warmth to well up near her stomach, a feeling of happiness that was far stronger than she'd experience whenever she thought of kissing Ron or when she experienced her first kiss with Viktor. She mentally growled in frustration. _Why? I was doing so good avoiding boy problems, why now? _As she considered her inner turmoil she once again found herself in a compartment choked with awkwardness and silence, Ron casting glares during the few times she attempted to start up any sort of conversation with Harry. A few tries later Harry had enough.

"What Ron?" He snapped at the red-head. "Just what exactly is your problem?"

"No problem mate." Ron hissed, "Just don't see why you are suddenly so chummy with her," Hermione winced at the deliberate omission of her name, "especially after she left you high and dry for Slug party."

Hermione was about to reply when Harry beat her to it. "And whose fault is that Ron?"

"You saying that it was my fault?"

"I'm saying things were going great until you butt in Ron, so yes, I'm saying it is your fault."

"She's the one who stormed off and didn't ask you out Harry, she's the one who didn't give you the time of day afterwards, she's the one that went off and asked Smith on a date! Don't go blaming this on me!" Somewhere during his tirade Ron stood up, Harry immediately rising up out to match him out of instinct. Hermione saw the deadly glare he was leveling at Ron and the furious look he receiving in turn and tensed, the entire situation could go from bad to worse at any moment.

"Ron maybe you should leave."

"We're doing this again Harry?" He asked with a growl, "You're standing up for her again? Once a day isn't enough?"

"I'll stand up for her as long as she needs it Ron." Harry's voice was a cold whisper. "I wouldn't have to do it so often if you would stop putting her down all the time. Now get out."

Ron cast one last glare at Hermione who flinched from her seat before storming out of the compartment in the same fashion he entered, the door slamming shut behind him. Harry and Hermione visibly relaxed, Harry letting out a long breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"Merlin Harry!" Hermione gasped, "I thought you were going to resort to blows."

Harry sat back down as he ran a hand through his hair, "So did I for a second, but no, I don't think Ron would do that." He grinned at Hermione, who still looked a bit shaken up, "He's too scared of getting his butt kicked twice."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow, "Twice?"

"Yes," he replied with a cheeky grin, "Once by me and then again by Missus Weasley when she finds out he got into a fight."

Hermione had to laugh at that. "Big headed aren't you?"

"You know it Hermione, Snape is right about me. Arrogant, just like my father!"

"So what was that about Harry? "Standing up for me again?" That's what he said right? What'd he mean by that?"

An annoyed look crossed Harry's face, "He was impersonating you in the common room this morning."

"What'd he say?"

"I'd rather not repeat it Hermione. I called him on it, got into a row over it too. It's part of the reason he didn't met up with us to find a compartment, he went off with Lavender instead and even she didn't look too pleased with him."

Hermione guessed it was something to do with her disaster of a date with Smith last night, presumably making fun of her for scaring him off so fast or maybe a jab at how she blew up on him in front of most of the party goers. She would have normally swelled in anger but instead was touched that Harry had stood up for her, but now and in the morning. "Thank you Harry," she replied with a grateful smile.

"No need Hermione, you'd do the same." And with that the matter was dropped before he groaned in frustration. "I don't look forward to this at all, I'm going to be rooming with him all during the break. It's going to be awkward when we get to the Burrow."

"I can imagine it will be." Hermione's mirthful tone not lost on Harry.

Suddenly she was struck by inspiration, an idea bubbled forth in her mind and escaped her lips before she had time to bonder it. "Hey Harry! I've got a great idea!" she suddenly exclaimed, beaming at the boy in front of her. "Why don't you come with me to my house for the Christmas break!" She almost appeared beside Harry, her hand on Harry's arm as she tried to impress the genius of her idea on him. "We've got a guest room you could sleep in, you could properly meet my parents too!"

"Hermione, while I think that does sound like a great idea, I'm positive no sane parents are going to let a 16 year old they barely know sleep in the same house as their 17 year old daughter, especially on such short notice."

Her face fell, though she didn't know if it was because her idea really wasn't as brilliant as she thought or because she wouldn't' be spending more time with Harry. "Oh, I guess you are right." She made to move back to her earlier seat when Harry but an arm around her, bringing her into a hug.

"Come on, you can stay here!I doubt anyone will come in to bug us and I've missed sitting next to you."

The same feeling of warmth came back in full force as Harry pulled Hermione closer into his one armed hugged. "F-fine," she stuttered. "I guess I can stay here."

"Great."

And so she did, with Harry's arm around her shoulder they talked with no interruptions for the remainder of the train ride, both of them enjoying themselves immensely as they caught up and made up for lost time during their semester. Finally the Hogwarts Express seemed to slow down and the landscape that flew past them gave way to the familiar London city sights and they both reluctantly separated to pick up their baggage, Harry exiting the compartment to let Hermione change out of her Hogwarts robes in privacy. It was a few moments later when they disembarked that they were met with the familiar bustle of King's Cross Station.

"Your parents waiting in the Muggle area?" Harry asked as they searched for anyone they knew, keeping a look out for Mister and Missus Weasley. "Why don't' they ever come into platform 9 ¾?"

Hermione giggled. "It's actually because of my dad. He once tried doing the 'run full speed into the wall trick' into the wrong wall." She started laughing at the memory, "Ever since then he refuses to try his luck again."

"I can see why that'd discourage him from trying again."

"My mother still makes fun of him to this day." Hermione spied a gathering of red in a corner, "Look, the Weasleys are over there, you should get going."

Hermione tiptoed as he tried to look over the crowd to catch sight of his surrogate family. "Oh, I see them. Well, I guess I'll see you again next year?"

"Oh please Harry," she replied with a soft swat at his arm. "You'll see me in a few weeks."

"But it will be next year."

"Well yes it will be."

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter and I'm right. And you Hermione Granger are wrong."

Hermione laughed again, holding onto his arm as they both descended into giggles. "We're both right you prat." She brought both arms around his neck as she pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you Harry. For everything on the train." She was startled when Harry replied in kind, is lips planting a firm kiss on her own cheek.

"I'll always stand up for you Hermione, you know that."

They shared one last hug before Harry walked off towards the boisterous family, Hermione watching him every step of the way with her own smile. That warm feeling had stayed with her the remainder of their train ride together and she felt it even now as they parted ways. She knew for sure that any thoughts of Ron didn't cause her to feel this way and was aware that this wasn't just because he had been a git aboard the train, she hadn't felt that warmth with regards to Ron for a while now, something she wrote off to their recent rows, a temporary lull in her affections that would end soon. But now she wasn't so sure.

A small voice in her mind told her that maybe Lavender was right.

If so, she'd have to ask her parents some questions.


	6. Take A Chance On Me

**AN: **Again and again, thank you for the reviews, adds on alert/favorites, it does mean quite a bit to me. Sorry for the time it took to update. I'll try to update the next chapter sooner, but expect some delay. I have my math final next week and a Disneyland trip this Sunday so those two things are gonna take up my mind.

So here's the chapter at the Granger's place. I looked online to find any sort of info for Hermione's parents, but couldn't really find anything besides the fact that (at least according to the _Harry Potter_ wiki) Hermione's mom was pregnant in 1978, the fact that they don't have any official names (I guess fans call them Dan and Emma for Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson) and that we don't ever actually see them enough to gauge what they are like.. So I basically had to make up everything about them, which is great and bad too. Great because I get to make them how I picture them, bad because I'm competing against people's ideas of how they should be.

I admit I could have tried to choose songs that are a bit more romantic but my knowledge of romance songs is limited so blame that on that.

This took a while to write, and I had to re-write it a few times. If anyone sees any sort of errors in flow or grammar could you point them out to me so I can fix em? Thanks.

Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Take A Chance On Me**

It was 3 days later that found Hermione alone with her mother in their kitchen. Hermione had just finished up a quick meal consisting of a sandwich and orange juice while her mother, Jean, absentmindedly washed dishes at the sink.

"Mum, can I ask you something?" She asked as she handed her mother her plate and cup.

"Of course dear, what is it?"

"Well," she started as she watched her mother from her seat at their table, "when did you fall in love with dad?"

Jean turned and smiled at her, "You know, I always wondered when you'd finally ask me about that, I guess you are that age now. Well," she continued as she worked on pot that wouldn't comply with any of the dish washer she'd tried so far, "I was keen on him for years even before we started to date, your father and I got along smashingly as friends and I did hold a torch for him while I saw him date other people," Hermione saw a dark look cross her mother's face and wondered what _that_ story was about, "but I don't remember the specific moment when I fell in love with him."

"Really?" Hermione asked, "I thought you would have known."

"Don't be silly dear," Jean said with a laugh. "I think a lot of people don't know the exact moment they fall in love with someone, they know the moment when they _realize_ they are in love with someone. That's a world of a difference."

"There is?" A confused Hermione asked for clarification.

"Of course there is! You don't know that difference because you've never been in love yourself," Hermione blushed, "But you don't fall in love in the same way you flip a light switch on or off. No, that love was always there, or had the chance of being there, from the moment you approach that boy or he approaches you and says "I fancy you!" Then, depending on how the subsequent relationship has been, that childish crush turns into something so beautiful dear; there are few things as beautiful as it. Love sneaks up on you, it hides in your heart over time until one day you can't ignore it anymore and you realize what's been growing inside you all along. It's not a tree that suddenly appears in your yard one day, it's one that you've been nurturing all along and one day you step back and finally appreciate what you've had all along."

Hermione nodded, confusion still on her face. "So when did you realize you loved dad?"

"I remember that like it was yesterday!" Her mother said as she sighed and held her hands over her heart while inadvertently tossing about soap suds and water. "The Beatles, my favorite band as you know," Hermione rolled her eyes, thinking that The Beatles seemed to be the _only_ band her mother listened to, "they'd just released _Beatles for Sale,_ December of 1964. At the time your father was dating… someone else," again Hermione wondered what that was about, "Your father worked a summer job at a music store at the time, so he hid a copy away for me and immediately gave me the album as an early Christmas present," she watched her mother give a wistful smile, "He rushed right over to my house when he got off work, said "Merry Christmas Jean" and handed me the album with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. As I said, I had fancied him for a while by that point, so I thought it was sweet of him, listened to that album the whole day I did."

"So that was when you realized?" Hermione asked, enjoying her mother's story. Her dad did sound sweet.

"No, not then, I just told you that story to set up when I actually realized. It was years later, your father and I studying to be dentists. We'd grown closer during that time since we shared several of the same classes. He was still dating the same person as before, but by that time that relationship was on the outs, everyone knew that."

"What are you talking about mum?" Hermione finally asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"That's another story dear, your dad tells that one better than I do. Back to what I was saying," she continued, eager to return the conversation to the previous topic, "We had grown closer, best friends really, and shared a few intense moments. Because of that we had danced around each other for a few years, but never did anything about it, he didn't because of his failing relationship and me because, well, honestly because I was too thickheaded to realize I loved him. Well, one Christmas I was listening to that same album he had gotten me all those years ago, I was in a bit of a funk because I found out that his girlfriend had suspected something about us and decided that she was going to propose to him." Hermione's eyes shot up and she gasped, putting herself in her mother's situation. "Well, I was listening to the album when their song _Eight Days A Week_ started playing and as I listened to the lyrics, that's when I realized that I understood that song. And that's when I knew."

"You realized you loved him," Hermione asked slowly as she tried to understand her mother, "because you understood a Beatles song?"

"Yes." Her mother admitted as if it was entirely natural, and to her it was. "But any romance song would have worked, it just happened to be that one. When I realized I loved your father _all_ romance songs made sense to me. They ceased being lyrics that sounded nice to go along with music, they actually had meaning to me, and I understood what they were saying." She saw the confused look on her daughter's face. "It is similar to learning a new language, let's say… French. You pass by foreigners speaking French and think to yourself "My, that's a nice language, it sounds so musical." But you don't understand what they are saying, but after some classes in the language you can overhear a conversation in French and appreciate its sounds _and_ understand what they are saying."

"Ok, I can understand that analogy," Hermione nodded while biting her lip, the cogs in her mind churning to process that information. "Can I ask you another question?"

"You just did, but of course dear." Jean quipped.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You've had boyfriends before dad right?" Her mother nodded, "Can you ever picture yourself with any of them? Can you picture dad with his exes?"

Jean didn't answer immediately, a particular cup giving her a spot of trouble. "Can you imagine me with another man? Or your dad with another woman?"

Hermione grimaced, a look of disgust on her face. "No, but that isn't what I asked."

"Dear, if you, our own daughter, can't imagine us with other people then how on Earth do you expect me to see your dad with another woman? The idea itself makes me sick; if it wasn't for you I'd probably die if I saw your father with someone else."

"But you have seen him with another girl. And I know you've had past boyfriends."

"There's that poem, _Old Long Syne_, not the modern version that talks about pints and drinking, but the James Watson 1711 version. Maybe it doesn't fit exactly, but I've always thought that to be a romantic poem, and it fits this context well. You could look it up sometime; I think we've got a copy." Her mother answered, Hermione not seeing the connection. "Yes," her mother added in explanation, "I did have two boyfriends before your father, and I'm the end in a long list of conquests for your dad, but that's the past. Those ex-boyfriends of mine, I treasure our moments together, but they can't ever hope to compete with your father. Sometimes I wonder if all my past boyfriends, my fancies, all those silly crushes I've had as a girl were preparing me to be with your father, all simply stepping stones that led me to your dad. I can't imagine myself with any other man any more than I can imagine my life without you, the sky being green, apples falling up instead of down. I'm sure your father feels the same way."

"You still feel that way about dad, even after so many years of marriage?" Hermione asked. She'd always known her parents were in love, but she'd never realized how in love they were, she supposed that their love had matured and mellowed over time, but her mother was speaking with the tone of a newlywed.

"Of course dear!" She leaned closer to Hermione with a beaming smile on her face. "You know, I still get this feeling whenever I think your dad, right here." She put her hand somewhere near her stomach, Hermione's mind immediately going back to the same spot where she had felt the same feeling towards Harry on the Hogwarts Express. "I still get those butterflies when I see him, when I look over at him while we are at our practice, when I see him stumble into the water closet in the mornings." Jean blushed deeply, "When I'm lying in bed and he walks into the bedroom."

Hermione groaned, _That's not an image I needed._

Jean finished with her dishes, shutting the faucet off and wiping her hands off on a nearby handkerchief. "Not that I mind dear, but why the sudden interest in my love life? Knowing you I'm assuming you didn't ask this for no reason, so... do you have something to get off your chest?" she asked as she sat next to her daughter.

Hermione sighed and began to recount the entire chain of events from her initial proposal to Ron to go to Slughorn's parties as each other's dates to her idiotic plan to take Zacharias Smith in order to make Ron jealous and everything in between. Jean's smile gradually turned into a frown and finally into a scowl as she listened to her daughter's story."

"Oh that Ron," she finally sighed when her daughter was finished. "But then again, that's par for the course with him isn't it? He's always been rather… inconsiderate I think."

Hermione nodded, now that her mother mentioned it this was rather normal behavior for Ron. She had always told him he had the "emotional range of a teaspoon", that he was inconsiderate and bad mannered, jealous and quick to anger. He'd shown this time and time again all throughout their friendship, every year like clockwork. He had his shining moments, times when she could see he was a good person and was attracted to him, times when he made her heart melt, but those times didn't outweigh the bad. And in light of all that she really couldn't be surprised at his behavior recently. It was such a simple idea that completely eluded Hermione's mental grasp. _Ron had acted like Ron. The sky is blue and water is wet. News at 11._

"I just thought," she began uncertainly, unsure what exactly she had thought, "that now that he knew I fancied him that he'd give me a little more consideration. That's reasonable isn't it mum?" She looked up at her mother with pleading eyes. "Maybe he hasn't always been the sharpest tack in the box when it came to relationships or emotions, but he's always been my best friend. I thought that after I'd asked him to be my date he'd consider me in a new light and he did mum! He did for a few great days he was trying; we didn't have silly little rows or anything. It was fantastic. But then he, he-" her tone grew angry and hurt, "Then he goes and starts flirting with Lavender! Just ups and kisses her in front of the entire common room! Why didn't he do that with me, his best friend, his date for the party? Why her and not me? Why did he have to go for that, that stupid bimbo instead of me, what does she have that I don't have? Am I not good enough for him mum?" Tears were pooling around her eyes now and her mother inched closer in preparation for the inevitable outlet of emotions. "I've always been there for him mum, always, and when I wanted him the most he just goes and throws that back in my face! And for what? For kissing Krum after the Yule Ball? For something to petty, something so stupid, something so-I like him and he doesn't like me back? Why?" She began to sob and immediately found herself engulfed in her mother's hug.

Jean held her daughter tightly as her body shook with sobs; she'd hoped that she'd never see the day when her little girl's heart was snatched away by someone who didn't deserve it and ended up hurting her in the process. As a parent it was the deepest sort of hurt she felt at that moment, that immense feeling of uselessness when she realized that her little baby girl was hurting and crying and she couldn't do anything about that because all that pain and sadness and grief was coming from inside. Maybe Jean's hug wasn't doing anything to alleviate the pain her daughter felt, maybe her assurances that "it was alright" were falling on deaf ears, or maybe her efforts to comfort her daughter wouldn't be enough or her words the wrong words. But it didn't really matter if a mother didn't know all the right things to say or do, it simply mattered that they tried. Jean began to rock the both of them back and forth as gently as she could, one hand rubbing small, soft circles on her crying daughter's back, all while whispering to her daughter that she loved her, that she'd be there for her, that her father would to. That Ron was an idiot to act like that to her, that he didn't deserve her anyway, that she was beautiful and had everything Lavender had and more. Her daughter nodding silently at her assurances.

It was a good 10 minutes later that Hermione began to settle down with an occasional sob of sniff here and there, her mother drew back to take a look at her.

"OK dear?"

"Yes mum."

"Ron?"

"I'll try not to mum."

"That's all I can ask dear, don't let him get you down, he's not worth it that way. I know that it will be hard to put that behind you, but please try. He's your best friend, but he clearly doesn't like you the way you like him," Hermione slowly nodded, and Jean could still see the hurt look in her eyes, "but please don't do that to yourself. I know he is your best friend dear, but the way he acts that's _all_ he deserves to be."

They passed a few moments in silence as Hermione began to settle down, slightly ashamed at her red tear stained eyes while her mother continued to hold her hand. When Hermione finally calmed down enough to feel normal her mother started up another conversation. "So Ron is being Ron," she said, "How is that Harry of yours dear?" Seeing this as her chance, Hermione started to talk to her about Harry, hoping to get some insight into her muddled feelings for the boy. Her mother, she figured, would continue to be adult about this.

She was wrong.

She started off with her latest suggestion to bring Harry home for the holidays, finally hoping to properly introduce at least one of her best friends to her family. Her suggestion was cut short when her mother interrupted with laughter.

"No offense dear," her mother began through a fit of giggles, "but you must have sounded incredibly desperate to invite him over like that."

"What? Why would you say that?" the clueless daughter asked, confused by her response and a little miffed at her mother's giggles.

"Well" Jean continued as she tried to suppress giggles. "I know these years are different so maybe I'm wrong but, darling when I was your age the Free Love movement was in full bloom, had I asked a boy to spend his holidays over at my home he'd think it was an easy shag."

"Mum!" A very red faced Hermione whined before covering her face with her hands. _Ok, maybe it was poorly thought out._ As she was pondering how the situation looked to Harry another thought hit her. "_Please_ tell me you weren't like that mum." Somehow the idea of her mother being involved in _that_ part of the 60s didn't ease her mind.

"Of course not dear," her mother admitted to Hermione's great relief. "I'm simply saying that I grew up in that culture. Your father, on the other hand, was _quite_ the ladies' man wh-"

"Oh please mum, I just ate."

"Don't worry dear; I'm just taking the mickey out of you. It's not every day you come to me with boy problems. Lord knows it's about the only thing I can help you with since I'm no witch. But don't worry," her mother went on. "I'm sure Harry knows you enough to realize that you weren't trying to lure him here to seduce him. Besides dear, I don't think you have it in you even if that was your plan."

"Mum!" Hermione was beginning to think she'd die of embarrassment, she didn't know which was worse, that her mother was implying that she was trying to seduce Harry or that her mother thought she wasn't able to seduce Harry even if she tried.

"Speaking of Harry," she began, "how did he dealt with the Christmas party? It must have been tough on him going by himself." She saw a look of hurt flash across her daughter's face. "Hermione?"

She considered her answer and realized that she had come her exactly for this talk. _There's no use backing out now. _"He actually had a blast at the party mum." Jean saw an odd look across her daughter's face, "He went with someone else."

"He went with Ginny? Did she finally wise up and ask him out herself?"

Even if this topic was also a source of confusion for her, at least this topic didn't hurt like the previous one and Hermione was glad for shift away from Ron. "No, he went with another friend, Luna Lovegood. They met last year; we all did actually, during the ride over to Hogwarts. She's… an odd one." She looked over to her mother, who seemed perplexed at the idea of an "odd" witch. "Her father is the editor of _The Quibbler_ which is a wizard tabloid much like _The Sun_ or, what's the American one? _Weekly World News._ That's it! She's like the wizarding world's equivalent of a conspiracy theorist. However, instead of believing in that Roswell conspiracy nonsense and UFO sightings, Elvis being alive, Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster she believes in magical creatures that don't exist, conspiracies to bring down the Ministry of Magic through gum disease and all sorts of superstitious nonsense. It's silly really. And the way she dresses reminds me of the pictures I've seen of hippies. Recycled butterbeer cork necklaces, handmade earrings, clothing with very jarring colors. She's a hippy conspiracy nut. All she needs to complete the images is to be into drugs." She added under her breath.

"Alright," Jean mumbled, trying to form a picture of the girl. "So she's… not all there should we say?"

"I wouldn't say that," she admitted sheepishly, "Ginny tells me that she's actually a great student, near the top of her year, and in Ravenclaw. I suppose if she would stop talking about all her silly things she'd actually be pleasant to talk to."

"Well," her mother cut in, "she must be pleasant or Harry wouldn't have asked her to be his date to that party right?"

Hermione seemed to deflate at her words. "I guess she must be. I suppose if you get past her personality she is very sweet, brave, she's loyal. Shorter than Harry with long blonde hair. I wouldn't have figured her to be Harry's type."

"So, you don't like her in general or because she went as Harry's date?"

Hermione sighed, "Mum, it's not that I don't like her, I just…" she paused to consider her feelings towards the odd blonde, "I just disagree with her worldview." She finished diplomatically. "I can't really speak for her either way, she's Harry friend before she's my friend. We're acquaintances really." She signed in exasperation, "I don't really know why I was so bothered by them, when I saw them that night I just… it looked so wrong with them together. It felt so wrong when I learned they'd kissed."

"Dear, have you ever considered that maybe you have feelings for Harry that go beyond friendship?"

"I've never considered it…" she trailed off.

"But a lot of people have?" Jean asked.

"Yes," Hermione admitted, "Lavender mentioned the same thing to me before I got on the Hogwarts Express." She huffed at her mother's knowing looks. "And yes mum, a few other people have mentioned that there _may_ be something more than friendship between us. There's Rita Seeker," she added, remembering her article for the _Daily Prophet_ during her 4th year. "Viktor also confronted Harry about any relationship between us around the time of the Yule Ball. During the same time Parvati asked if I was ok with her going to the Yule Ball with Harry," she added before sighing. "Cho Chang was also frequently jealous of my friendship with Harry when they were dating; Ginny has also asked me if we were just friends when we used to talk about her crush on Harry. Dumbledore has also made some insinuations about us spending so much time together. Ron," she went on, slightly shaky about thinking about him so soon after her little episode, "has never said anything, at least to me and if he's said anything to Harry I don't know about it, but I get the feeling that he also thinks something is going on. He throws us glances whenever we hug or spend time together without him. But that could just be his jealousy acting up because he feels left out. There's probably more, but I've tuned out the rumor mongering that goes around."

"You know, your father thinks that you like Harry."

"What?" Hermione was floored, "Why?"

"You should ask him sometime. His arguments have never been too persuasive to me. I'm sure you'll both love that conversation won't you?"

Hermione groaned in frustration and embarrassment. Her own father was in on it! "And you two just talk about my relationship with Harry do you?" she asked with slight annoyance.

"Of course. You are our baby girl so it's only natural that your father and I would talk about the two male best friends in your life, especially since you hit puberty. But that's beside the point," she waved her hand dismissively, "have you ever felt as if you wanted something more than friendship from Harry?" She looked at her daughter who suddenly blushed a deep red, causing her to raise her eyebrows. "You have." She declared, happy at the idea that her daughter would have someone else to chase after and wouldn't be reduced to sulking and pining over Ron anymore.

"On the Hogwarts Express we nearly kissed." Hermione certainly didn't expect her mother to squeal in delight nor to turn giddy like any of the schoolgirls at Hogwarts. She watched her mother enthusiastically slid her chair closer.

"Tell me." She practically demanded.

Hermione was quite shocked at her mother's behavior; she had always known her mother was excitable and enthusiastic, but she never pictured her as the type of woman to be so… _girly_. It did bring a smile to her face however, she felt as if she was getting to know her mother all over again, it was always interesting to see a new side of an old friend again. She smiled at her mother, internally laughing at her antics, "Well, we were in a compartment by ourselves," she couldn't help but blush at her mother's raised eyebrow, "and it was somewhat silent, the reason being that I kept stealing glances at Harry who looked so relaxed." She hung her head, "I admit, I thought he looked so relaxed because after the party he and Luna had gone off and I thought that…" she trailed off, mumbling incoherently as she went on.

"I didn't catch that dear." Jean cut in, "You thought what?" She saw her mother give her a face clearly letting her know that she didn't want to say what she thought they had done. "Oh," she gasped, realization sinking in. "You don't think that…?"

"Yes. No. I don't know!" Hermione growled in confusion. "I know Harry and I know how he is around girls, clueless. I can't picture Harry being the type of boy to do… that, with a girl on their first date. Honestly I'm surprised they even kissed." She paused as she considered something, then frowned. "Although, it could have been Luna that initiated the kiss… if that's true then she could have initiated other things…"

"Well," Jean interrupted to keep her daughter from going down that road. "back to the train ride."

"Oh, yes. Well, we got to talking and somewhere in there we started making jokes and laughing. I made a jab about Missus Weasley and tried to do an impersonation of one of her Howlers, those are the letters I've told you about-the ones that yell in the voice of the sender- oh Harry looked so scared before he realized I was joking!" She laughed. "After my rendition of Missus Weasley's temper, we collapsed on each other, laughing." The memory of that experience, along with the feeling of warmth, returned to Hermione as she recounted the moment to her mother. The edges of her mouth involuntarily tugged into a smile and she could feel blood rush to her face. In Jean's opinion her daughter was glowing. "We fell off of our seat and onto the floor where we just rolled around and laughed and laughed. When we finally had it under control I realized that I had strained my voice, I turned to ask him if I sounded any different and he was-he was just looking at me. But he was giving me this look, one I'd never gotten in my life before, he looked so good and handsome." Jean began to smile at her daughter, "And he started to lean in and before I knew it so was I. I'm positive mum," she turned to look at her mother, a beautiful gleam in her eye, "I'm sure he was going to kiss me, I'm sure of it. And I wanted him to kiss me and I wanted to kiss him." She closed her eyes at the memory of that almost kiss, Ron and Luna completely forgotten.

"And, why didn't you?" Her mother asked.

"Ron walked in on us." Hermione huffed as her mother slammed the table with her fist, startling her.

"Ooh that Ron!" she hissed.

"I agree."

"Maybe you do like him dear. You certainly don't go around wanting to kiss every boy you see do you?" Jean asked with a teasing grin, causing her daughter to gasp in mock outrage. "Of course not. Only Harry. I think you should gather up all your Gryffindor courage and walk up to him and say "Harry Potter, I fancy you.""

"But Ron," Hermione began feebly before she was cut off by her mother.

"But nothing young lady, what does Ron have to do with this? Are you scared he'll get jealous if you start going out with Harry? Well that's too bad for him! He obviously didn't care if you'd get jealous when he started dating that other girl. You gave him a chance and he blew it, don't let him get you down anymore. You think there is something between you and Harry? Go for it."

"Mum, we don't even know if I do have feelings for him like that. Maybe it was a one time thing? Maybe he was so embarrassed that he'll never bring it up again? Ok, I admit Harry _is_ rather fanciable, always has been, I've noticed that, of course I have. But do I think he's so fanciable that I actually fancy him? Please, let's be realistic here."

"I am being realistic dear, I do think that you feel something for Harry. Maybe…" she pondered, a finger on her lips, "Maybe because this is the first year where you have been distant from him you are starting to appreciate how good he makes you feel." Jean nodded, agreeing with her own words. "And maybe because Ron's been such a prat and Harry's been so sweet to you, on the off chances you talk to him," she added as a jab to her own daughter, "you're finally seeing him as a great guy instead of as a great friend."

Hermione nodded, considering her mother's words.

"I can see you aren't fully convinced. Tell you what dear, when your father gets back today you go up to his study of his and ask him about your Auntie May alright? It'll make sense when you do."

"Alright, maybe I will." Hermione stood up and started heading back towards her room before quickly running back and engulfing her mother in a hug.

"Thanks mommy." She whispered.

"Anytime dear." Jean patted her on her back, giving her a squeeze in return.

She spent the rest of the day in her room, ostensibly studying for her classes though in reality she was simply mulling over the conversation she had with her mother. She had accepted that perhaps she did feel something for Harry, though she didn't know where those feelings came from and why they chose now of all times to surface, but feared Ron's reaction to any attempts she would make to start any sort of relationship with Harry in addition to Harry's reaction. She was sure he was going to kiss her, but maybe he was just lost in the moment? Maybe he had something going on with Luna? What if she completely ruined her friendship by asking him for something more when she wasn't even positive she wanted something more. She fumed in frustration for the greater part of her day. When her father arrived later that day she didn't ask him about Auntie May, nor did she for the next few days. Her mother didn't push her on the subject, she seemed to understand that she still had some things to think through on her own.

Christmas finally rolled around a few days later, Hermione awoke to her father's shouts of joy that came in from the family living room. She groggily walked in to see her father excitedly attempt to plug in a new Nintendo 64 system with the _Super Mario 64_ game. Robert, her father, had the dirty little secret that he had never gotten out of his video game addiction he developed in the arcades, and though her mother and her didn't share his passion for the things, they had pooled their money together to buy him that newfangled console he had surreptitiously eyed whenever they passed one at the stores. "What do you say dad?" Hermione asked with a grin on her face.

Robert had to almost pry himself away from his new baby as he ran and hugged his daughter. "Oh thank you dear, thank you thank you thank you!" he repeated over and over as he kissed her cheeks and nearly crushed her in a hug before returning to the TV set. Hermione laughed at her father's antics before turning to her mother.

"You know how he gets, it's '89 all over again when that Game-thing came out. You know he made me stand in line with him for that? And I was pregnant too." Her mother grinned, internally smiling at the love of her life and his childish tendencies. "I'm sure I'll receive a giant thank you later tonight."

"Oh god mum!" Hermione huffed, swatting her mother on the arm. "Please, it's too early to hear such things. I don't want to hear anything later tonight either."

"We'll be discreet then," Jean grinned before standing and hugging her daughter. "Merry Christmas dear."

"Merry Christmas mum." Hermione returned the hug before moving over to their little Christmas tree and nativity scene, her eyes searching for her gifts as she heard her father whoop in the background as he fired up his game. She received a few new jumpers from her mother, along with one of those cheap romance novels that were commonly found in supermarket check-outs with an attached note from her mother "_Just a push in the right direction"_. She turned to glare at her mother, who suddenly seemed incredibly interested in her father's game. She also received an entire collection of _The Chronicles of Narnia_, _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, the complete collection of Edgar Allen Poe's work and the complete collection of an author she didn't recognize, an H.P. Lovecraft. Even though she didn't recognize the last, and was only passingly familiar with the _Hitchhiker's_ _Guide,_ she was pleased with her new reading material.

"What's that?" Her mother asked behind her, causing her to turn.

"I don't know, it looks like a fat red boy to me."

"No, not that, what's that?" Her mother elaborated, pointing at the lone present that sat under the tree.

It was a small black rectangular box that almost hid behind the nativity scene, if it wasn't for her mother pointing it out to her Hermione would have missed it. As she picked it up she saw a small note attached to it, written in Harry's traditional chicken scratch.

_Hermione,_

_I was in Diagon Alley recently when I saw this and thought of you._

Here Hermione could see he had tried writing something else and scratched it out.

_I miss you._ _Merry Christmas and Happy New Year._

_Harry._

Hermione looked back at the little box before silently opening it, taking in a breath as she saw the small golden necklace with a book shaped locket, _HJG _inscribed across the small book cover. She gently picked it up before opening the small locket, her eyes falling on the inscription found inside.

_You're all the magic I need_

_-HJP_

"Oh Harry," she whispered as she gently fastened on the necklace, holding the locket close to her heart as she was flooded with emotion. Behind her Jean and Robert shared a smile.

"Well," her mother suddenly announced as she stood up and made of a show of stretching and yawning, "I'm going to take a nice shower before I head into the kitchen to cook up my famous Christmas breakfast meal." She leaned over and kissed Robert on the lips before turning to her daughter with a smile. "I'll expect to be in there for a while."

Hermione spent the next few minutes absentmindedly playing with her new necklace and blushed when her father caught her smiling wistfully into the distance. After that she made a show of opening one of her books and pretended to read it while she hid Harry's note in it and read it over and over.

"So, you enjoying _So Long and Thanks for All the Fish _honey?" Her father asked over the sounds of his video game.

Hermione, startled by the sudden question tried to keep her cool. "Of course dad. It's great. Thank you." She answered simply.

"Do all witches read books upside down like that?"

She hid her head in the book when she realized that the book was upside down, an embarrassed groan escaping her lips as her father chuckled to himself, only to curse when something in the game hit his little fat boy. Finally she realized that her mother had given her a chance to talk to her father alone and took it.

"Dad, mum told me to ask you about Auntie May?"

He was clearly caught off guard, his video game character falling off of a cliff in the process before looking back at his daughter with a surprised expression. "She did did she?" He responded before frowning at the awkward structure of his question. "Alright," he said as he paused his game and turned to face his daughter. "I'll start at the beginning."

Hermione nodded and settled in her seat, getting the feeling that she'd have to be comfortable for this tale.

"Well, I met your Auntie May through your mother, when your mother's side of the family moved here they both transferred into my upper school. There I met your mum and she introduced me to your aunt, her sister. Well me and your mum were friends, we got along great, but I noticed that your aunt was throwing hints my way that she might fancy me, and since I had been with several girls before that I had enough courage to ask her to a dance. We had a great time and a few days later we had a second date, I took her to watch a movie, can't remember which, and shortly afterwards I asked her to be my girl and she said yes. So, me and your aunt were actually quite serious about each other, we dated for the majority of upper school and for the first few years of university, I dare say that we loved each other and fancied the idea of marriage."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up in surprise, she'd never known this part of her family history. "I never knew you dated Auntie May," she said, "Why wasn't I ever told about this?"

Her father saw her expression and chuckled, "Oh trust me, it gets better. Or worse, depending on your point of view." He frowned slightly, "Well there were cracks in the relationship. For one, she didn't quite like the fact that I stayed friends with your mum throughout the relationship, but what was I supposed to do? Stop talking to a friend? She didn't like my sexual history either," it was Hermione's turn to grimace, "Her parents also didn't approve of my history and my hair, my way of dressing, the music I liked, my personality, they didn't like anything about me really. Now, I wasn't going about with feathers in my hair and tie-dye shirts, but I didn't exactly meet their expectations as to how a man should act. You have to understand, your grandpa was in the army, served in both World Wars, raised in a different time, and a man growing up with long hair wasn't exactly looked on with respect. Your grandpa once called me a poofer now that I remember." He chuckled at the memory before turning serious again. "But the final nail in the coffin was that she absolutely hated the fact that your mother and I went to the same school for the same purpose, dentistry. Not that she hates dentists, although her teeth would say otherwise now, but she hated that your mum and I grew close during that time away from her. Her parents always warned her that because I "couldn't keep to my own bed" that I'd end up cheating on your aunt." Again Hermione felt like she'd be sick, she had no desire to hear this about her father, luckily he went on, "Well, I guess they were right."

Hermione was shocked. "You cheated on her?" she asked with outrage, she'd never figured her father was unfaithful to anyone. She'd never figured he had such a history, but at least she could have reconciled that by saying he was a faithful man, and now she couldn't even say that. By his own words he was exactly like the sort of boys at Hogwarts that she despised, the type that went around from girl to girl and broke their hearts.

"Now honey," he said with a placating tone, "hear me out. Me and your aunt were going through very troubled times, I would have broken up for her straight away if not for your mother. See, while we grew closer together, your mum and I, me and your aunt grew further and further apart. On the rare times we could visit each other we'd end up fighting, she'd get insanely jealous of your mother's time with me, she'd start to snoop around and ask our friends if they knew if anything was going on between your mum and I, we'd go for months without seeing each other, things of that nature. It was at this time that I realized that I loved your mother and that she loved me too." he sighed, "We didn't act, we didn't do anything, and even though your mother knew who I was seeing she stuck by me. She was always there after me and your aunt fought, or when I was feeling down. She even turned down other men, just to keep herself open for me. We both knew that if I told your aunt what was happening that we'd put a nasty wedge between your mum and her sister, it might even break up the family. We kept this a secret as I tried to find the right way to break it to your aunt that we were over. Unfortunately, you can see how scary it would be to tell someone you are about to leave them because you fell for their sister. There was never a right time to do that. Unfortunately your aunt forced my hand."

Hermione saw her father playing with the wedding ring around his finger, slowly running over the gold band with his thumb.

"Well, your aunt suspected something so she got the idea that she'd fix our relationship by making it permanent-"

"She asked you to marry her!" Hermione interrupted, remembering her conversation with her mother.

"Mum tell you that part?" he chuckled. "Yes, your aunt May asked me to marry her."

Hermione's head swam, no one had ever mentioned a hint of this before, although now that she knew it did serve to explain so many things about her family life. Her father's family was the only one that regularly visited, and on the off chances that her mum's side of the family visited it was always awkward and silent. On the even rarer times her Auntie May visited her gaze always lingered on her father, or she'd always try to brush her hands against him or act in ways that were completely inappropriate. Hermione had figured that perhaps her aunt had harbored feelings for her father, as much as that idea baffled her, but could have never dreamed that it was because they were dating and in love at one point.

"That's why your Auntie May doesn't come around much. When I turned down her marriage proposal she was devastated and angry. Blamed your mother for stealing me away, blamed me for having wandering eyes, blamed everyone really. It took a long time for us to reconcile with your mother's side of the family, they were so against us being together. It's also one of the reasons you were born so many years after your mum and I dated and married, we felt like it would be rubbing in our relationship to your aunt." He gave her a smile. "But well, things are better now. Sure, there'll always be some tension but that's an improvement over trying to shoot me off of their lawn."

Hermione knew why her mother had asked her to speak to her father, she knew about the reservations she felt about pursuing something with Harry. If she substituted herself and Harry for her mum and dad, and their love for her growing feelings for Harry, Ron with her aunt, then the two scenarios were exactly like. Here she was fidgeting and unsure of herself in light of her blossoming feelings for her best friend, but feared the reaction of her other best friend, one she had been crushing on for the better part of her school year. Her parents were in the same situation and, in the end, had chosen to face their fears and admit their feelings to each other even though they risked destroying a family in the process.

"Dad," she asked, getting his attention again. "That time, when mum's family hated you, was it worth it?"

Hermione caught her father nearly scoffing at her question, and she suddenly felt incredibly silly for even asking it. She didn't want to be presumptuous but she knew that it was worth it. She knew her father loved both her and her mother dearly. His scoff was wasn't that much different than the feeling she had when asked by a random Hogwarts students if being Harry's friend was worth being petrified and nearly killed by a troll.

"Of course it was honey."

The rest of the day was spent lazily enjoying each other's company. Her father stuck to the living room with his new gift while her mother sat beside him reading a new book while occasionally laughing and commenting on her husband's playing.

Hermione kept reading Harry's note over and over behind an upside down book.

It was much later at night, after their Christmas dinner that her father and mother, having drunk a bit too much eggnog, danced around the living room to their oldies. Hermione laughed and giggled as she watched the both of them have such a great time, trying and failing to dance properly.

"Oh it's our song!" Jean squealed as ABBA's _Take A Chance On Me_ started playing, the intro filing the room with music.

Hermione had seen them dance to this song before, but this time was different. Either it was because they had recently brought up their history and it still lingered on their minds, or because of the eggnog, but their dancing was different. They slowed down from their excited dancing into a slow swaying, their laughter and giggling gone to be replaced with an intense gaze into each other's eyes, and embraced each other with her mother wrapping her arms around her taller husband's neck, his arms snaking around her waist. Her mother played with her father's hair while he brought one hand up to rub circles in her mother's back. Their foreheads touched as they whispered things to each other, Hermione couldn't tell what they were over the sounds of the music playing but she could tell that whatever it was they were saying, they both loved it. They had smiles on their faces and their eyes sparkled and after a moment they leaned in and planted a soft kiss on each other's lips. Even though Hermione was their daughter she felt as if she was intruding on something wonderful, something that should have stayed between the two of them and wanted to close her eyes or look away for modesty's sake. And even though, if Hermione was being completely objective, she knew her father was going bald and what remained of his hair was starting to show spots of gray, she knew he was starting to pack on the pounds, she knew he wasn't as strong as he used to be. Her mother was also starting to show wrinkles, she had to dye her hair to cover her own graying hair, she certainly couldn't compete with any of the younger women in the world.

And even so both of them looked like the most beautiful people in the world.

Hermione considered her parents and the music that flowed around her with a smile. They'd taken a chance on each other even when it meant they could lose so much and found happiness. They went through their own troubled time and persevered, they'd found love and decided to do what was right instead of what was easy. Her father could have easily accepted that marriage proposal, her mother could have easily backed away when she realized she was in love with her sister's boyfriend. But they took that chance.

And there, as music playing around her, as she sat on her living room couch and watched her parents dance and kiss to their song, Hermione's hand once again found its way to her golden necklace as a smile found its way to her face.

She'd take that chance with Harry.


	7. Someone is Smart

**AN**: Many more thanks for the reviews and alerts/favorites. They make me feel good and warm and fuzzy.

So like I said, I found a copy of _Half-Blood Prince_ and I'm reading through that as best as I can and on Ch. 17 I found some weird stuff. The first, and weirdest, is that there is no mention of Hermione getting Harry anything for Christmas. In fact, the only gifts he gets are a sweater from Missus Weasley, some stuff from the twins and some maggots from Kreacher. The hell is up with that? Why didn't Ron or Hermione get him anything? Presumably it's because they had other things on their mind, Hermione spending her money on that dress and Ron spending it on Lavender? This is good though, because it gives me something to start this chapter on.

The second is that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny return to Hogwarts via floo travel and not the Hogwarts Express like I figured they did. There's no mention of how they got to the Burrow in the first place, but I obviously assumed they took the train. I don't know how it is in the books, but in the movies I only remember them taking the train, so I'm assuming that the Hogwarts Express is just one of the many ways people can get to Hogwarts (the other being the floo travel).

The ingredients used here (and in some other chapter) all come from _The Elder Scrolls._

I'm nervous about this chapter. I feel like I've said that about every other chapter, but then I was nervous about those too.

* * *

**Someone is Smart**

Hermione was nervous for quite a few reasons. The first would be that she'd see Ron again and would know for sure if she still had feelings for the git. The second was that she'd see Harry again and would at least attempt to see if, as many people insisted, she did have feelings for him. The third was that she'd be giving Harry a belated Christmas gift, realizing over the break that she hadn't sent him anything at the Burrow. The fourth reason was that she'd be seeing Harry again. She wasn't sure why she counted him twice, but she did. Her nervousness was the reason why she'd immediately left Professor McGonagall's office, though not before the Headmistress handed her a scroll mean for Harry, and headed towards Hagrid's hut, figuring that if Harry and Ron went looking for her, though Ron probably wouldn't care, they'd check the library first.

"Nah that I don' appreciate yer comp'nee, but shouldn' ya be with Harry 'n Ron?" Hagrid asked in the gruff accent that Hermione was never able to actually pin down.

"Well yes," Hermione said after a sip of tea that didn't taste quite right, "but…" Hermione trailed off, blushing in embarrassment as she considered her situation. Here she was, brave and smart Gryffindor, hiding from two boys. Her hands fiddled around the small present she had in her hands.

"Does it have tah do with that?" Hagrid gestured with his giant hand at the neatly wrapped gift. "Is that fer Ron?" he asked with a grin that was visible behind his scruffy beard.

"No actually, it's for Harry." She said in a small voice.

"Oh." Hagrid leaned back in his chair as it creaked and groaned under his weight as he took a bite out of his rock cake. "Ah'll never understand women, that's fer sure."

Hermione let out a short laugh. "That's fine Hagrid," she said, "Even I don't understand myself right now." She stood up and drank the rest of the tea in one gulp before placing her cup and tray on his table. "Well Hagrid, thank you for letting me catch my wits here, I really appreciate your company. It was nice to see you and Buckbeak."

"Of course Hermione!" he said with a laugh as he stood up to show her out, amazing Hermione once again at his ability to pronounce her name correctly. "Harry, Ron and you are always welcome 'ere! Stop by whenever. Oh, 'cept I suppose during classes. Take care of yerself!"

One bone crushing hug later, Hermione wondered if this is how Harry felt whenever she hugged him, and she was back on her way towards the Gryffindor Tower, passing by a few friends on the way who eyed her and the small gift cradled in her hands, a few whispers and snickers reaching her ears, along with mumblings that sounded suspiciously like "Ron", "love-sick puppy" and a few other disparaging words. For the first time she wondered just how idiotic she must have looked all year long as she fought with Ron and tried to make him jealous. She carefully placed the small gift into her coat pockets, suddenly feeling unsure of herself again.

She found Harry, along with Ginny and the git, at the entrance to the common room, seemingly arguing with the Fat Lady over the password.

"Harry!" she called out, hurrying towards him, her face heating up when he turned and smiled at her. "I got back a couple of hours ago, I've just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck-I mean Witherwings," she said as she locked her gaze on him, completely ignoring Ginny and Ron, who had confused looks on their faces. "Did you have a good Christmas?" she asked as her mouth suddenly started working on her own. She had no idea why she was suddenly talking a mile a minute, or why she couldn't at least wait to hear his reply, or why she didn't even seem to know Ginny and Ron existed at the moment. "I've got something for you, Harry" she suddenly cut in again before Harry said a word. She dug into her pockets, thankful that her cloak was hiding her suddenly trembling hands, and even if they did notice she could pass it off as cold. She'd meant to hand him the scroll Professor McGonagall had given her to pass on to Harry, but her hands found their way to his gift and consequently she was just as surprised as everyone else when she pulled out a small wrapped box and handed it to Harry. She'd meant to give him his gift somewhere private.

She didn't fail to notice Harry's eyes darting from her to Ron and back to the gift.

"Oh, hang on-password." She said facing the Fat Lady. "Abstinence."

She pulled him into the common room, Ron and Ginny going off in their own directions, both of them looking in less than stellar moods, where she led Harry to "their" table to talk and catch up.

She beamed at him as she placed a gloved hand over her neck. "I'm wearing it right now." She said in a soft voice at the questioning look Harry was giving her, something that looked like nervousness evident on his face. "I love it." Without warning she reached over and hugged him for all she was worth, planting a quick kiss on his cheek that warmed her insides. "Thank you Harry." With one last squeeze on her hug, and another quick kiss, she separated from him.

"I'm glad you liked it Hermione." He said with a goofy grin, "I saw it in Diagon Alley and thought of you."

While Hermione knew that he thought of her, they were best friends after all, the idea that he thought of something so sweet and pretty while thinking on her made her feel amazing. "So open mine." She suddenly blurted out.

"Of course." He said as he gathered up the small gift in his hands and began to rip open the wrapping, Hermione's feeling of nervousness creeping back up on her. _What if he doesn't like it? What if it's not the right thing to give him?_ _Oh no, what if I messed up and I totally misread his gift to me?_ "Wait, maybe-" she couldn't get out the rest of her plea to stop him before he'd finished unwrapping it. He gently pulled out a small silver ring that had the image of a snitch flying around its surface in a continuous circle, the words "_HJP-You're the Snitch I Seek-HJG"_ trailing behind it.

"I know you don't wear jewelry, but I just _had_ to get it for you Harry," she started explaining, "And I figured you'd more likely wear a ring than a necklace, look you can put it on your thumb if it's too odd on your fingers. Or maybe I can take it back and get you some-"

"Hermione," he said as he turned to look at her, slipping the ring onto each finger before finally leaving it on his thumb, "I love it."

"You do?"

"I think it's brilliant."

Hermione flew into his arms again, this time receiving a bone crushing hug from Harry. She squeezed him back and rested her head on his chest as he started gently swaying her back and forth before picking her up and spinning her around. "Harry!" she squealed, giggling at his reaction. He set her back down on her feet and leaned down and gave her a kiss on her cheeks before whispering in her ear, "I love it Hermione. Thank you."

And there it was again, that feeling of warmth that bubbled up in her stomach and set her blood on fire, this time it was accompanied by a tingling sensation that originated from the cheek he'd kissed her on. It washed all over her face and made her break out in a ridiculous smile.

"So how was your Christmas?" Harry asked after they'd realized they'd drawn a few stares from the common room, sitting back down.

"Oh, fine," she shrugged. "Nothing special. How was yours?"

"Terrible actually." His reply startled Hermione. She looked at him as he seemed to sink into his seat, exhaustion or frustration weighing him down. He sighed as he looked around the common room, noting how packed it was and, pausing for a moment, he cast a privacy charm around themselves with a quick mutter and swish of his wand.

"You know the privacy charm?" she asked in surprise.

"Luna taught it to me over the break." He replied easily as Hermione's blood started freezing in her veins. "The break was pretty bad; Ron was in a mood the entire time. Lavender dumped him it seems."

"What?" Hermione asked, temporarily forgetting Harry's comment about the stringy haired blonde. "Why? What happened?" she asked as she tried to surreptitiously scan the room for either of the two. "When and how?"

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes at her, "The day of the train ride actually, remember how I told you he was impersonating you and I had a row with him?" Hermione nodded. "Well it seems like Lavender didn't think his antics were quite as humorous as she used to, they got in a row on the train. Found out that's the reason he suddenly decided to visit our compartment." They both blushed as they remembered just when Ron had decided to drop by. "Well," Harry continued as he cleared his throat, "over the break he received a letter from her telling him that it was over. I don't' know if they ended it on the train or in that letter, he didn't tell me exactly and I'm not about to go and ask Lavender about that."

Hermione nodded, Lavender didn't seem like someone who'd break up over a letter. Then again, what did she know about the girl? It was only recently that she'd gotten over her image of a 'blonde haired bimbo' and discovered that she was actually quite nice. "So he was in a mood the entire time?" she asked, just imagining Ron sulking all throughout the break making her feel oddly giddy. She supposed she considered it his just deserts for being such a great prat to her.

"Him and Ginny. Mind you, I don't talk to Ginny too much, but I found out she's dating Dean Thomas and I guess their relationship is on the rocks. What little conversation we had over the break was frosty." Harry signed and leaned back in his chair, "Ron's attitude worsened when Missus Weasley found out we had fought and demanded he apologize to me and write you an apology letter too. He wasn't having any of that however, and it only got worse."

Hermione grimaced and put a comforting hand on Harry's. "It sounds terrible, you had to share a room with him too didn't you?"

Harry nodded, a look on his face that clearly told Hermione he didn't want to be reminded. "The only good parts where the twins, seeing Charlie and Bill, Fleur was there too, and Luna."

"Luna?" Hermione asked, her blood freezing once again.

"Yes, did you know she lives near the Burrow? That's how Ginny and her became friends in the first place, they met when they were younger. She came over to visit a few times, she taught me the privacy charm after people kept trying to butt into our conversation."

"Oh." Hermione added smartly. "What were you talking about that needed to be private?" she asked as normally as she could muster.

"Nothing." Harry said a bit too quickly for her liking, averting his eyes and suddenly looking incredibly awkward. "So, oh right I've got something to say to you."

_Dear God I hope he doesn't tell me he's seeing Luna._

Her fears were quashed just as quickly as harry began to recount everything that he had heard between Malfoy and Snape during the Christmas party. The conversation flowed from there, Harry telling her about Mister Weasley's and Lupin's opinion on the matter, Lupin's involvement with the werewolves and the mention of someone named Fenrir Greyback. Hermione, remembering the name from a threat they'd overheard in Knockturn Alley bolstered Harry's suspicions even further. Hermione had tried to play Devil's Advocate but her attempts where half-hearted at best. "It is pretty suspicious," she finally relented, "Unless.."

"Oh, come on!" Harry groaned in exasperation, clearly frustrated that no one seemed to believe him this year, even Hermione. "You can't get around this one!"

Hermione wanted to say that it could have been an empty threat, but she recalled the way she'd been acting towards Harry up until now. She'd been neglecting him all year long and, his response to her gift notwithstanding, needed to make it up to him. Even if she wasn't sold on the idea that Malfoy was up to something, she could at least tell him that he might be on to something.

"Thanks Hermione," he said with a smile, "I'm glad someone believes me."

They continued to talk for the rest of the day, Hermione incensed when Harry told her that Rufus Scrimgeour had tried to get him to give his public support for the Ministry. "The nerve of that man!" she huffed, "After dragging your name through the mud last year with the _Prophet_, suddenly he expects you turn around and say "Thank you sir may I have another?" and support him!" They laughed and joked until it was time for them to go to sleep, Hermione reminding him that they should have a good start on the first day of classes tomorrow.

Hermione went up to her shared dorm, catching Lavender's eye and nodding at the girl before calling into bed and closing the curtains around her for privacy. She realized two things. The first being that she now knew that she was definitely over Ron, if not for Harry bringing up his failed relationship with Lavender she wouldn't have thought of him at all today. And the news of his breakup with Lavender did nothing to get her hopes up, in fact she only felt a bit sorry for Lavender, but otherwise didn't care for the news at all. She hoped that now that he was single and that she wasn't holding a torch for him they'd be able to move on as friends and, perhaps, not get into so many rows as they had been.

The second thing she realized was that there was _definitely_ something with Harry. There was no possible way that she could deny this any longer, though she unfortunately didn't know exactly _what_ she felt for him. Being held in his arms as he spun her around, the feel of his lips firmly planting that kiss on her cheek, she was positive she didn't see him purely as a best friend. Whether or not anyone was right about her loving Harry, the suggestion sounded like music to her ears, she was going to pursue the feelings she had. It seemed like Harry returned them after all, another idea that gave her butterflies, but there was Luna. She wasn't sure what was going on with Harry and her, but she'd find out.

The next day she found herself in Slughorn's class. She had half a mind to sit elsewhere just to avoid Ron, they were still acting frosty towards each other, but decided instead to remain at her table, though she did move her cauldron around the table, standing next to Ernie and across from Harry. She ignored Ron. Professor Slughorn's assignment was rather interesting, it was the introduction of Golpalott's Third Law, which she volunteered to explain-earning ten points for Gryffindor when she did so successfully-and its use in creating a Major-level antidote. He motioned to several phials on his desk and, with a final word of encouragement, let them get on with their work. She was out of her chair almost instantly heading towards a phial with a dark red liquid that had caught her eye and shot Harry a smug grin as she passed him on her way back to their table. She'd seen the panicked look he had on his face as Professor Slughorn explained the theory behind their task, his eyes almost glazing over as the professor's mini-lecture went straight over his head. It's not as if she _wanted_ him to fail and make a fool of himself, but knew he _had_ to. Otherwise how would he ever learn anything if he kept that Half-Blood Prince book as a crutch? _Maybe_, she thought,_ if he had actually studied he wouldn't be in such a situation right now._

"It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this, Harry," she said with a smug 'I-told-you-so' look on her face as she finished pouring her phial into her cauldron. "You have to understand the principles involved this time. No short cuts or cheats!"

Harry went about his work muttering something under his breath, while Hermione happily went about her own. She was doing the complicated wand work that would temporarily prevent the potion and its ingredients from reacting with anything, followed by the incantation and wand movements that caused each individual substance to become immiscible with each other. Finally she caused a spell at her cauldron that temporarily made it transparent, if she'd done everything correctly it should look like her cauldron currently held several different liquids. _Great!_ She thought happily as she found just that. She took a moment to glance up to see Harry frowning at his cauldron, seemingly lost in thought or trying to figure out an easy way out of this through his book. _He'll never learn._ She huffed in annoyance as she set about decanting each individual layer of liquid in her cauldron into separate crystal phials and started writing down each individual ingredient.

_Chokeweed, Dreugh wax, Hypha Facia… along with a lot of pad ingredients. _She bit her lip in concentration, it was just her luck that she'd pick a hard poison to decipher._ Well it's either a Bone Lock poison, Mala Fortuna or… Squidsblood. _She began to pull out a parchment and scribbled each of the alchemical effects of the three main ingredients, or at least what she thought there the three main ingredients, along with their interactions between each other and a possible remedy. She gathered ingredients from the nearby cabinet, steam rising from her cauldron that occasionally coughed up black smoke when she saw that Harry was actually doing something. She wasn't sure what he planned to do, given that he hadn't separated his poison into its base ingredients, nor did he seem to have an alchemical chart anywhere near him, he wasn't even brewing anything, he was simply using a melting spell on his two ingredients, changing them from solids to liquids, and pouring the result in a vial. She didn't have much time to contemplate his actions when she heard Professor Slughorn bellow out, "Two minutes left, everyone!" when she realized she wouldn't be able to finish the potion on time.

_Maybe he'll still give me credit if I explain what I was doing?_ She wondered nervously as she sped up her stirring as she was rewarded with a blast of smoke that hit her square in the face. Somewhere she was sure she could hear Ron chuckle. _Yeah, well, we'll see who's laughing when they flunk potions._ She threw a glare in his direction, thought she knew it was probably ruined by the soot on her face. As the professor went about checking on everyone's work, Hermione realized that no one had actually completed the task, she tried to cram in the final ingredients to her work while Harry was still mucking about with that melting spell of his. _He's not even doing it right!_ She suddenly realized, _He's leaving chunks of the plants _in _the liquid._ _Oh Harry._ She slowly shook her head.

She was suddenly snapped out of her musings when the professor reached their table. Sniffing Ernie's potion with a slight nod, grimacing at Ron's poison-the git hadn't don't anything-and looked at her work. "What were you trying to achieve here Miss Granger?" he asked.

"I detected Chokeweed, Dreugh wax and Hypha Facia in the poison Professor," she said, "Thus I narrowed it down to three poisons, Bone Lock, Mala Fortuna or Squidsblood, and I was in the process of brewing an antidote that'd solve all three main effects of each potion." She finished hopefully, wondering if she at least had the right train of thought.

The professor nodded, seemingly pleased with her work. "Yes, that certainly is good work, I'd give you a full score, but this wouldn't work in practice Ms. Granger. I see you sorted out Stoneflower petals, which, while useful, when added to Dreugh wax and Chokeweed does create a Negative Luck Ratio, you should have been brewing a counter-acting agent to Mala Fortuna." Hermione's expression fell as she realized she'd overlooked a rather simple solution to the problem. Her frown deepened as she realized she had been overthinking the entire thing in an effort to show off in front of Harry. "Don't be too hard on yourself Miss Granger, we all make mistakes and, while your effort was admirable from an intellectual standpoint it required too much time. Next time you'd be better off taking the simpler route." Hermione nodded, crestfallen at the Professor's explanation. Her only consolation was that he deemed her work an E score.

"And you, Harry," the Professor's words made Hermione look up at the raven haired boy across from her, who was clutching tightly at his single solitary phial. "What have you got to show me?" He looked quizzically at Harry's cauldron, which still held the poison, seemingly no work done anywhere near it.

Harry held out his hand, the purple colored potion, chunks of a plant and flakes of an ingredient she didn't recognize swishing slowly inside of it.

Professor Slughorn stared at the potion for all of 10 seconds, Hermione wondered if the Professor would have least give him a P score instead of the dreaded T.

"You've got a nerve, boy!" the professor suddenly boomed, startling everyone in the class. He took Harry's phial and held it up high for the entire class to see. "Oh, you're like your mother… well, I can't fault you… this is brilliant work! Please, share with the class!"

Hermione didn't understand what was going on, she looked around and it seemed that she wasn't the only one, everyone had confused looks on their faces. They all turned to look at Harry again, who looked distinctly uncomfortable under the gaze of the entire class.

"Well," he started shakily, "I cast the Revealaspell on the poison you provided sir, and found that it was a combination of Mala Fortuna poison and the Blood Sapper's Poison. Corkbulb Root and Corprus Weepings both cure each of those…"

"Yes my dear boy!" Slughorn cut in with excitement, "But why did you use the melting spell and why didn't you melt both ingredients completely?" he asked as he leaned in, obviously in on something the rest of the class wasn't.

"Uh, well sir, the mix of the Corkbulb and Corprus… liquid would be absorbed into the body first, counteracting the effects of the Mala Fortuna and the Blood Sapper's Poison much faster. The chunks, well, in the poison I also found Roobrush which stretches out the effects of a poison so that an initial antidote _seems_ to cure the effects, only to allow them to return later. So the chunks of Corkbulb and Corprus I left are so that the drinker's body absorbs the antidote throughout the entire lifespan of the two poisons?" he finished in a question.

"And you thought of that all by yourself, Harry?" Hermione asked in amazement, that bloody potions book of his nowhere in sight. _He did come up with it by his own._ His entire explanation, now that she heard of it, was absolutely fantastic. She wondered if she would have been able to come up with it.

"That's the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs!" Slughorn declared, "Just like his mother," he proclaimed to the class, "She had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making…"

He continued to go on, though Hermione tuned him out as she stared at Harry before her, who caught her gaze and mouthed a "What?" She was aware she was staring, but could literally do nothing about it. Harry had stunned her with his answer, with his work. The entire time she thought he was just standing about with no clue he had been thinking up a clever solution in his head. _He wasn't staring at his cauldron with confusion, he was working out a problem!_ He'd done almost no work at all and yet he was the only one to finish the assignment and finish it in a spectacular manner.

Hermione had to admit that she was incredibly attracted to him right now.

He seemed to mistake her blush for anger, and flinched away from her gaze. As the professor announced it was time to pack up and leave, she made sure to whisper "Good job" before she left the room, aware that he planned to talk to the Professor about the Horcruxes.

She decided to wait outside while he talked to the Professor, though she didn't have to wait too long as he reappeared a few minutes later with a frown on his face.

"Didn't go so well?" she asked, startling him with her presence.

"Oh Hermione," he exclaimed. "No, it didn't. Denied knowing anything about the Horcruxes."

"I see." Hermione said a little uncertainly, she hadn't actually waited to talk about that. "So, was that potion all you?" she asked a little hopefully.

Harry grinned immediately, "Yes it was."

"Really?" she asked again, his grin causing her to grin too.

"No. Yes really!" He added as Hermione's face began to drop. "Remember? I promised I'd try to read the _entire_ potions book. I promised for you." He accentuated his point by poking Hermione in the chest, just below her neck, his words causing her to momentarily forget to breathe.

"That's great Harry," she said with a smile, though she quickly tried to cover it up with a lecture. "But I told you to read and study for your own benefit, not mine." She failed to cover up her smile. Unlike the previous times when he'd shown her up in Potions, this time she wasn't filled with anger and resentment at the fact that he beat her through cheats and shortcuts, but with pride and happiness that he had studied, on his own, and had beat her on his own merits. She wasn't sure if she'd ever felt prouder of him than she did right now. The fact that he had done this purely for her filled her with joy, she was sure she'd be wearing her smile all the way to bed.

"So," Harry said as he offered his arm. "Join me in the library's Restricted Section to find any information on Horcrux hunting milady?" He said with all the grin and charm he could muster.

"Oh Harry," she giggled, "Of course I'll help you research Dark Artifacts in the dirtiest section of the library! You sure know how to swoon a lady."

"I'll work on it Hermione."

The next few months went smashingly, Hermione tried spending more time with Harry, the feeling of warmth that Harry brought up started staying with her longer and longer, even when he wasn't around. The butterflies in her stomach started appearing simply when she remembered his voice, picture his eyes, heard his name. If it wasn't happening to anyone else but her she would have laughed, written it off as the puppy love of some silly little girl. She found herself more and more nervous as she was around him, wondering if he'd notice her hair, her clothing. She was embarrassed at herself, wondering when she had turned into an insecure girl. This was Harry for goodness sakes! She was sure he wasn't judging her based on her appearance or other silly superficial things. And even though she'd never felt like this before about a boy, even though he made her a nervous wreck, she loved the feeling she got whenever he'd compliment her or return a hug for a bit longer than necessary.

Of course things weren't totally dandy. Ron didn't seem to be taking their growing closeness too well. He'd still glare at them, make snide comments or altogether avoid their company. Hermione would have liked to have thought that he was still fuming over his breakup with Lavender and was taking it out on them and that he'd get over this on his own, but she was kidding herself. She'd caught on to a few things Ron had been saying to Harry, saying that Harry should watch out because "Hermione's just using you to make me feel jealous." A long time ago it would have hurt to know that one of her best friends would have thought so low of her, but she _had_ gone out with a complete jerk just to make Ron jealous. And, a small ugly part of her had to admit, had she still harbored feelings for the red-head spending time with Harry to make Ron jealous probably would have crossed her mind. These thoughts disgusted her and she felt truly ashamed of her past actions.

The second thing that marred her happiness was Luna. She'd seen Harry spend more time with Luna, their conversation shrouded with the privacy charms or cut short whenever Hermione would stumble unto them. Harry was tight lipped about whatever it was that they talked about, and Luna was… hard to talk to. Hermione wasn't sure if anything was going on between the two, though she desperately wished that there wasn't. Not now that she knew she fancied Harry.

She wondered several times if perhaps she was misreading the situation with Harry, it wouldn't be the first major mistake she'd committed recently, or if Harry was acting more flirtatious simply because he _was_ already involved with Luna and she brought out that side of him. But surely he wasn't the type of boy to flirt around was he? _No, he's not. He's completely clueless about women._ She reasoned. But then, if he was completely clueless about women, how was it that he was saying all the right things to her? Clearly she didn't know the extent of Harry's charm. Harry also wasn't the type to excel in potions class, and yet each and every day he continued to impress her by successfully brewing perfect potions and showing her up in Slughorn's class. He also wasn't the type to take a girl to a party and kiss her on the first date, and yet he'd done that with Luna. He wasn't the type to give an amazingly heartwarming gift and yet he'd left her stunned during Christmas.

And what did she know really? Had anyone asked her if Ron could be such a huge prat a year or two ago, she would have replied "Of course not. He's a prat, but not enough to fight with someone for the whole year." And yet that's exactly what he seemed to be doing with her and with Harry.

Had someone asked her if she was the type of girl to try underhanded schemes such as going out with someone to make Ron jealous she'd have replied "Of course not. Only desperate bimbos do that!" And yet she'd done exactly that. Had someone asked her during her first year if she would have ever considered kissing either of her best friends she would have replied "Absolutely not." And yet there she was, a girl who had wanted so badly to kiss Ron and now wanted to kiss Harry.

Her growing affections for Harry, her confusion over her past actions and failed relationship with Ron, her fears over Harry and Luna's relationship plagued her mind for those few months.

One night she'd shared all of this with Lavender and Parvati, her other two dorm mates burning the midnight oil in the common room.

"Well Hermione," the dark skinned girl began, "This all sounds pretty tough on you but," she looked over at her best friend who simply nodded, "what exactly are you doing about it?"

"Nothing." Lavender took over, "Are you really going to let Harry fall out of your grasp because you are sitting here worrying about what _might_ be going on?"

Parvati cut back in, "Do you remember a while back when Harry pulled that genius stunt in Slughorn's class?"

Hermione nodded, unsure where the girl was heading with this.

"Well, remember what Slughorn said? You took too long trying to figure out every single part of that poison you were stuck with and because of that you didn't complete the task on time." She suddenly snapped her fingers, "That's your problem Hermione! You _think_ too much! What are you going to do, sit about and _think_ Harry into a relationship? _Think_ all these problems away? I'm sure that'll work." She scoffed.

Lavender was nodding vigorously at her friend's words. "Ron," she almost hissed his name out. "He won't stop being such a prat if you let him be a prat. Knock some sense into him before his words start making sense to Harry!" She shook her head to emphasize her disagreement with Hermione's plan of inaction. "Luna, she _does_ seem awfully chummy with Harry this year. What are you going to do about that Hermione? Just _let_ her take him away from you?"

"No one is taking him from me!" Hermione exclaimed with utter certainty, the mere idea that someone would ever snatch him away from her so far beyond her comprehension that she couldn't conceive of a reality where it would ever come to pass. "You're right Lavender, Parvati," she said as her determination started to build. "I have been sitting about doing nothing. Things are going great with Harry so far, and I'm sitting here letting other people ruin it for me and not doing a blasted thing about it!" She'd pursue him as she'd pursued Ron. She had gathered up the courage to ask him to Slughorn's party before he ruined that idea, so why couldn't she pursue Harry just as well? She'd already asked him to Slughorn's party once before, she'd exchanged very romantic-in her opinion-gifts with him, she'd been straddling the fence between playful teasing and full out flirting with him for a few months, so why not take that final leap of faith?

In her mind she pictured Harry as her goal, and in her way were three major problems; her own insecurities, Ron, and Luna.

And if there was anything Hermione Jean Granger was good at, it was solving problems.


	8. Red Headed Row and Glasses

**AN: **Again thank you for reviews/alerts/favorites. You know what's awesome? I was checking the hits this story had and discovered that there is someone in a country called Mauritius who is reading this story along with 2 people in Brunei Darussalam who are also reading this. If not for seeing that hit counter I would have never known those two places existed. Holy hell is the Internet awesome or what?

Also, this chapter took longer to show up because I got caught up in _DC Universe Online. _That game is pretty fun once you hit max level and find a league to play with. Not only that, but I honestly didn't know how to write this one. Hopefully it's not stupid and crappy.

Also a legal disclaimer (because of the recent hubbub) I don't own any of this, the _Harry Potter_ universe belongs to J.K Rowling.

* * *

**Red Headed Row and Glasses**

It was common to sleep in on Saturdays, something Hermione's dorm mates were currently doing, but the Gryffindor bookworm was wide awake just before dawn. She'd gone to sleep pondering her recent predicament and woke up an hour before dawn, something she'd been doing quite recently, to considered her to-do-list; she had to yet to talk to Ron or Luna. With Ron, she'd know where to find him-he'd taken to sulking in the common room or practicing in the Quidditch field-and had an idea of what she could expect from their talk. The problem with this is that he was always there; she didn't fancy the idea of yet another massive row with a live audience in the common room, and whenever she'd try to talk to him in private he'd either ignore her or start making remarks that came close to making her blow her top. On the Quidditch field he'd be zooming about on his broom or in the middle of a practice match, if she waited for him to finish he'd simply head straight into the locker room and back into the common room after that, this had gone on for days and frankly she was getting frustrated at his behavior. She was sure she could force the issue, make him sit down and listen long enough to get everything she needed to off her chest, but she wasn't sure that was the best course of action, she wanted to handle this gently and correctly as two adults, or soon to be adults, and not like screaming crying babies yelling at each other. Getting him to sit still long enough, somewhere private, would be the hard part, the easy part was what she'd say to him. She'd tell him she wasn't going to do this bickering with him anymore, that she didn't want anything beyond friendship with him either, and that, whether he liked it or not, she was going to pursue Harry romantically. Of course she knew how well he'd take any of this. A normal person would be glad to finally stop a long and pointless feud with their best friend, but while Ron was a dear friend Hermione knew he'd somehow find something to get angry. _Probably the part to do with Harry._ She actually wasn't sure he'd be angered at that, he had been angered when he discovered she had kissed Krum and didn't seem too pleased when she went with Smith on that disaster of a date, but maybe he'd be fine with Harry and her? _Maybe,_ she pondered, _but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. _

_Luna, on the other hand…_

That was a bit more of a mystery since she didn't' know the small blonde as well as Harry did, a thought that made her feel ill. She had asked about her a few times, hoping Harry didn't see her questions as suspicious probes for information on a potential rival for his affection but rather mild curiosity over a new friend, and so far he didn't seem suspicious of her ulterior motives. In fact he seemed all too happy to talk about her. So far she'd discovered things she already knew about the girl, her interests and hobbies-which she had to keep from scoffing at-along with a few things she didn't know but that ultimately didn't help her find a good time or place to talk to her. She couldn't simply ask Harry to set up a meeting between Luna and her, that'd be too odd at the moment, and she couldn't tag along with Harry whenever he went to go meet with her for two reasons; the first being that that would _also_ be awkward and the second being that he seemed to want to meet her alone. This also made her feel sick. She certainly couldn't simply accompany Harry around all day as much as she tried, or wanted to, this was simply impossible as their schedules didn't completely match up. If he had Quidditch practice she had to study for some assignment or other, he could meet up with Luna then, if she was free he had to study or had a class, he could meet up with Luna during that time. And sometimes he'd surprise her leaving and going out to meet up with her even if _both_ of them had free time. This was silly to fuss over, of course Harry had other friends and he would want to spend time with them so what right was it of her to expect him to spend_ all_ his free time with her? She had none and he was of course free to go off on his free time to visit anyone he wanted. Even if it was Luna. A girl. A girl that he'd taken to a party as his date and kissed. A girl he'd taken to a party as his date and kissed and talked about in a fond tone and met up with in secret. He had every right to do that.

But it still bugged her.

When she had thought of simply following him without his consent she'd immediately written off the idea. For one, she'd feel completely and totally ashamed with herself if she was caught… and even if she wasn't she was certain she didn't want to become the type of girl that stalked the boy they were holding a torch for. _It's bad enough I'm a girl who'd date a prat to make a boy jealous._ The second reason she'd turned down the stalking option was that she wasn't sure she'd like what she'd see when Harry and Luna were alone. Again she was imagining things, it could easily be that they go off and meet in a group of friends… though knowing Harry and Luna's reputation this seemed unlikely. Perhaps they simply went around the forest or to Hagrid's hut to talk about fantastical creatures? There were several million things they could be doing that weren't secret snogging sessions but her mind always went there. A terrible sinking feeling overtook her as her mind pondered the worst case scenarios. _Oh no…_ _what if they already were a couple and she was just too stupid to see the facts before her? Why else would Harry go off on his own to meet with her in secret?_ She had to admit that she wasn't at all sure what Harry would act like in a relationship, though she could assume that he'd be kind, caring and gentlemanly, but for all she knew he could be incredibly shy and would want to be alone and in private when he was with a girl. Or maybe he was incredibly bold and adventurous in a way that required privacy. _No! Stop it!_ Hermione mentally berated herself;_ I've no reason to believe they are a couple. I've no reason to believe I'll stumble unto them in the middle of some kissing… surely I wouldn't catch them sneaking off into a broom closet somewhere? No. No. Absence of evidence IS evidence of absence. Absence of evidence IS evidence of absence._

She repeated her mantra a few times in her head, her face scrunched in concentration as she sat on her bed.

Finally clearing her mind of those disgusting thoughts she re-examined her options to talk to Luna. _The Marauder's Map!_ _Oh, but how would I get Harry to lend me that?_ She'd need to hold on to the Map for the better part of a day or two to get the hang of Luna's schedule, it wouldn't make sense to simply look at it for a few moments, she'd learn nothing that way. She huffed in annoyance, just how hard is it to track down two fellow students and talk to them? She shook her head and decided to get ready for the day, if she remembered rightly today Harry had an early practice schedules for the upcoming Quidditch match with Hufflepuff and maybe she could have a nice chat with him before he left, or she could go and see him practice.

After a quick shower she dressed and went down to the common room, a scarf hanging around her neck in preparation for the cool air outside, she sat down at "their" table and began absentmindedly pondering ways to get the Marauder's Map off of Harry.

_I could just ask him. I don't think he'd hav-_

She was distracted when Professor McGonagall entered the common room in a hurry.

"Miss Granger," she said in a clipped tone, "Could you kindly go and fetch Miss Weasley from her dorm?"

Something about her tone didn't sit well with Hermione, "Of course professor," she replied as she started to worry. "Is something wrong?"

The Headmistress' expression fell and she replied in a gentler tone. "Yes Miss Granger, it's Mister Weasley, he's in the hospital wing."

Hermione's body went cold. "What? What happened? Why?"

"He's been poisoned."

The next few hours passed in a haze for Hermione. They had waited for nearly two hours outside the hospital wing's double doors while Madame Pomfrey went to work pulling Ron out of this situation. Hermione had arrived faster than Ginny did and, upon seeing Harry already there, she immediately began demanding information on what had happened. Harry, it seemed, had been with him when it had happened and recounted the entire story. Ron had woken up early due to excitement over his birthday-Hermione felt her heart drop, she'd completely forgotten about that-and, since both of them were in a rush-to open gifts and get ready for Quidditch practice-Ron had accidentally consumed some love potion laced chocolates Harry had accidentally thrown over his shoulder. Hermione could tell that Harry seemed to think this was his entire fault, though both she and Ginny had tried to convince him this wasn't so.

"You know how Ron is," Ginny had offered, "he smelled food and asked questions later. Don't beat yourself up over it."

While Harry and Ginny dealt with the feeling of uselessness by beginning to speculate on reasons why Ron was poisoned, or threatening violence if they'd ever catch the person who did this, Hermione thought about her best friend who was currently fighting for his life.

_Please let him be ok, please let him be ok._ She hated this feeling, it crept up whenever one of her two best friends was in the hospital-though it was usually Harry who ended up there-because she couldn't do anything except sit by and let Madame Pomfrey do her work, the best she could offer was simply being there for her friend and at the moment she wasn't even allowed that. It two hours later that Madame Pomfrey allowed anyone to see him, she'd said that she'd stabilized his condition enough that he was out of the worst of it and that all he'd need now is a long rest along with some follow up potions. Hermione had bolted next to his side, Ginny and Harry following close after her.

"He's asleep at the moment," Madame Pomfrey quietly added, exhaustion evident in her entire form, "Even if he does wake up today it won't be for long, I've got him on several pain killers that would make him fall back into a sleep should that happen. You are all, of course, welcome to stay here with him if you want to." She added as she saw the looks on the three student's faces.

They chose to stay as long as they could, and since it was a Saturday they didn't really have any pressing concerns to attend to they all stayed for several hours, well into the evening. The twins had shown up some time after that and went on with Harry and Ginny to speculate, again, on how it was that Ron came to be poisoned on his birthday. Mister and Missus Weasley had shown up at some point and cried and fussed over their youngest son before heading out to speak to the Headmaster to set up an accommodation for his hospitalization with his professors though the promised to return again.

Hermione sat by Ron's bed, silently staring at her friend. She hadn't said a word since she'd initially asked Harry what had happened. _Oh Ron,_ she mentally cooed as she looked at the sleeping form of her red-headed best friend, the boy who had held her affections for several months, one of her first and best friends. _Please be ok Ron; please get out of this mess. I'm sorry about this whole stupid row we've been having, I'm sorry I didn't apologize earlier, just wake up you big stupid lug, please wake up. _ _Please, when you wake up we'll all go to Hogsmeade, you, me and Harry. We'll be a group again, the Trio, friends and laughing, as it should be. Please be fine._ Everyone in the room was suddenly startled when he started to move in his bed as if he was just coming out of a dream, his mouth opened and they could all tell he was about to say something, causing every one of them to lean in.

"Er-my-nee," he croaked before muttering something incomprehensible and then promptly falling asleep again.

Suddenly Hermione found herself under the gaze of everyone in the room, watching her expectantly to see if she could shed some light on why he had called out her name. Before she could respond however, the doors to the hospital wing flung open and the towering and booming figure of Hagrid appeared and, after a few moments of conversation with him Mister and Missus Weasley returned. Missus Weasley was wailing as loudly as she could, muttering about her "poor, poor baby" and nearly killed Harry in a hug when she discovered that his quick thinking with a bezoar he spotted in Professor Slughorn's office had factored immensely in Ron making it through the entire ordeal. She'd held onto him for several minutes in that hug as she covered in him kisses, profusely thanking him for saving her son's life. Mister Weasley's gratitude was just as strong, though he settled on a strong hug and pat on the back to thank Harry.

Sometime after Hagrid showed up Madame Pomfrey had to remind them all that only six people were allowed to see him at a time she felt it best if she left along with Harry and Hagrid, to leave him with his family and also because night had already fallen and they were all sure they were out past curfew. They continued towards the Gryffindor tower while Harry and Hagrid got into some conversation about Professor Snape and Dumbledore, though honestly Hermione's mind was preoccupied on Ron's current condition to care about Harry's theory that Snape and Malfoy were up to something, not even Hagrid's fears that the board of governors might get involved and close down Hogwarts for fear of student safety was enough to distract her. After a run in with Filch and Missus Norris Hagrid sent them the rest of the way on their own while he stayed to argue with the "sneakin' Squib!"

"The twins are right, it's not one of his better birthdays," Harry finally said as they made their way back to the common room. "Well, at least he doesn't have to worry about those Apparition lessons," he said as he tried to inject some levity into the situation.

"Now's not the time to joke Harry," she chided.

"No, no it's not." He said, his voice suitable contrite. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do in these situations, usually it's me that's lying in the hospital bed."

"Now's not the time to joke about that either Harry," she scolded him again.

"I wasn-you're right." he said again, and after a long stretch of silence passed between them he finally spoke up again. "I hope he's ok."

"I do too." She whispered as they reached the Fat Lady. She didn't seem too pleased to be woken up so late in the night, but swung open to let them in, casting a scolding look their way. Hermione collapsed on the nearest couch, letting out a long sigh as she closed her eyes for a moment. "You know, when I saw him lying there I immediately felt sorry over how I'd been treating him recently. I really wish he would wake up so we could all put this silliness behind us."

"I get that." She looked over at Harry, who had taken a seat next to her and was staring at a nearby fireplace as he started speaking. "I haven't really been the best of mates with him either, haven't really been since the Christmas break… I think it'd be easy to say that this is all his fault, for being so dense and getting in a row with us all year, but then I think that maybe I should I have tried to talk to him more, make him understand, clear things up you know?"

Hermione nodded at his words, "I understand, I should have reacted to the Lavender situation better, just accepted it and moved on." She immediately regretted her words, while it was obvious to anyone that she was jealous of Lavender and fancied Ron she didn't quite feel like admitting it to Harry. She quickly thought of something else to say, "You know I didn't even get him anything for his birthday?"

"No, you did," Harry said with a laugh at her perplexed expression. "You got him _Don't Let Them Score: Advanced Keeper Strategy,_ he seemed pleased with your gift so you're fine."

"But I-oh I see." She leaned over and hugged him, the contact with him and the feeling of his arms wrapping around her uplifting her mood. "Thank you. I owe you; please tell me how much that book cost?"

"No deal Hermione," he replied with a cheeky grin, "You've saved my arse a few times, I think it was only fair I returned the favor."

Hermione gave him a swat on the head, earning a wince from Harry. "Oh honestly Harry, I don't hit that har-what happened to your face?" she asked, finally noticing the shiner Harry was sporting on the right side of his face. She immediately pounced on him, her hand gingerly touching the bruise, "How'd this happen? When? Who?" she asked as she held on to him and examined his injury more.

"It was Ron, didn't you hear? I already told this story." Harry asked as he tried to swat away her hands in a futile effort. Seeing the blank look on her face he grinned, "Well ok, I guess you were out of it today. It was Ron, he was going on and on about the love of his life Romilda Vane because of the love potions he'd got into. I thought it was some sick and twisted joke at first and told him so, turned around and he'd bopped me on the side of the head and was gearing up for another before I cast Levicorpus on him. That's what actually tipped me off that it wasn't just some prank he was taking out on me, he actually really loved Romilda… or at least he thought he did." Hermione suddenly drew her wand and pointed it at the bruise and with a mutter of "Episkey" caused Harry to wince in pain.

She reached out and touched the spot where the bruise had once been, "Are you better now?" she cooed as she gently ran her hand up and down the side of her face.

"Yes I am thank you." He let out in a rush. "Not that I mind you fusing over me, but does the Episkey spell always hurt? First my nose and now this…"

"You know the Episkey spell? Why didn't you cast it on yourself?" she asked, wondering if he liked sporting bruises out of some macho thinking.

"I don't know it, Luna used it to fix my nose before I walked into the Great Hall, don't you remember? She thought I looked "devil may care" with my nose busted. You asked me why I was bleeding when I walked in with her remember?"

"I must have forgotten," Hermione said in a tone that plainly told Harry he'd done something wrong.

"Oh." He added dumbly, unsure how he'd dig himself out of the hole he was currently in or just how he ended up in that hole. "Hey, I think it's time you head to bed." He winced under her glare, "It's just that you don't stay up late, even on Saturdays, unless you've got to finish some assignment for class. And you must be tired too." He quickly added to explain himself.

Hermione seemed to scrutinize him and realized that she was too emotionally spent to get into some sort of tiff with him over something as silly as an innocuous Luna reference. She was trying to get on his good side, not alienate him over things he didn't even know he was saying. Besides that, he was right. "Yes, I think I will head up, thank you. Are you going to sleep too?" she asked as she stood up and stretched.

"Yes, in a bit. I've got something on my mind right now."

"Well, don't stay up to late, we do have… oh today is Saturday. Well don't stay up too late; it's not good for your health." She informed him, and smiled at the playful eye roll he tried to hide. She also watched in amusement as he stood up and walked her to the door leading to the girl's dormitory even though it was only across the room.

"Goodnight Harry." She said as she leaned in for one last hug.

"Goodnight Hermione."

Over the next few days she'd take to visiting Ron in the hospital wing, the good news was that he was getting much better and stayed awake longer which meant that she started laying the ground work for an amicable resolution to their long standing row, the bad news was that he was dropping some none too subtle hints that he was interested in her. She wasn't too surprised by this, after all he _had_ shown interest in her when she had first asked him to Slughorn's party, in fact he'd shown some interest in her even before that and she had to admit that staying by his side during his illness was rather romantic. But even if he wanted to start again, even if he was incredibly and truly sorry about his behavior it wouldn't matter, she no longer returned his feelings. She guiltily realized that if, no _when,_ he was finally released all that was waiting for him was for her to tell him she didn't fancy him anymore and was going after their mutual best friend.

"_Hey Ron, thanks for getting better. Is it ok if I go after Harry because you've been such a git to me that I lost interest in you?"_

Hermione inwardly cringed, that didn't sound good at all, certainly not something you drop on a person right after a life threatening event. And yet she knew she had to do this, it'd be worse for everyone if she didn't. She would have preferred to put this off, if only for Ron's sake, until he was better and until after they'd properly reconciled, as it was they were dancing around the subject of their recent behavior. Except Ron had just forced the issue.

"So, Hermione," he started one day from his hospital bed, "Have you heard anything about the Hogsmeade trips?"

_Uh oh._

"No, the staff has not made any new announcements concerning the Hogsmeade visits. With Katie and now you there's been some talk that the board of governors might close the whole school down." she gave him an apologetic look, hoping he didn't feel down on himself. "Some of the students are petitioning the staff to allow the trips, but there isn't any notice that the staff _doesn't_ want to allow the trips." She saw a confused look on his face. "Ron, as far as anyone knows the next Hogsmeade trips haven't been cancelled yet."

"Oh, that's good." He said as he turned away from her and fidgeted with his sheets. She knew that look on his face, she'd had the same look on her face when she'd initially asked Ron to Slughorn's party, she suddenly felt awkward and dreaded the next few words out of his mouth.

"Say Hermione," he started as he began drumming his fingers his nearby end table, "how about, uh, you fancy going down to Hogsmeade with me next time?"

"Sure, you, me and Harry. We'll all go again." She immediately replied through immediately, her whole body on edge. Now that she saw her conversation with Ron looming over her, staring her in the face, she suddenly realized she didn't want to go through with it, she wanted to make her intentions towards him and Harry clear, but also didn't want to hurt his feelings.

And she knew she was about to hurt his feelings.

Ron paused at her comment, his face confused at Hermione's lack of understanding. "Right… sure, but I'm asking you if you'd like to go with me, just you and me. On a date." He finished lamely.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. "I understood what you meant Ron."

"So that a yes then?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Ron, if you'd have asked me that last year," she started slowly, "I'd have said yes."

Ron's face fell, evidently he realized what direction this conversation was headed in and already didn't like it. "What do you mean about that? Why wouldn't you say yes now?" he asked, the beginnings of a blow up already showing in his voice.

"Ron," Hermione realized she couldn't back down anymore. "I think we both know why I asked you to Slughorn's party last year, I think we both know that I was jealous of you dating Lavender," she shifted uncomfortable in her seat, "I think we both know that I fancied you."

"Fancied," he said in a dull tone, "fancied?" he started up, "I thought you still fancied me!"

"What? What gave you that idea Ron?" she fired back, baffled as to where that idea came from. "I haven't fancied you since the Christmas break." He flinched at her admission.

"Then why did you keep up this row with me when you came back?" he demanded, covering up the pain of her admission with anger. "If you didn't fancy me then you certainly kept acting like a jealous bird would!"

"Don't call me a bird Ronald, I am your friend and I deserve some respect." She snarled, insulted at the term.

"Right, _now_ you are my friend and you deserve some respect." He retorted and he started clenching and unclenching his hands. "Answer the question, if you didn't like me anymore then why did you keep this up?"

"I didn't keep anything up, I was done with all that. In case you don't remember I didn't start any sort of argument with you since we've been back, every row we've had since then has been started by you, by your snide remarks, by your glares." she answered, wearily shifting back in her seat. She didn't think he'd even _try_ to hit her, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be careful.

"Then what was that with Harry?" he asked, "Are you telling me that that wasn't just another stupid trick of yours to get me jealous?"

"You think I was using Harry?" she asked in an outraged tone, sheer disgust washing over her. She'd known that Ron had previously suggested this to Harry, that their recent companionship was a ruse to get under Ron's skin, but hearing it again, and asked with such conviction angered her. "I would _never-"_

"Oh come off it, you were happily using Smith weren't you?" he spit out, his face red with anger. "And I bet you would have kept going out with him if that hadn't blown up in your face!"

"There's no reason to yell Ronald," Hermione hissed, her own blood starting to boil. "What I was going to say was that I'd never think of using Harry like that, he's already been through too much already for me to do that to him."

Ron scoffed, "Harry's got enough people looking after him already."

Hermione didn't quite catch the meaning of his comment, but continued on. "This doesn't matter, I wasn't using Harry to make you jealous, I was just trying to make amends for the horrible way I've been treating him recently, maybe you should too."

"So what? That's it?" He said. "You're just going to lead me on and then suddenly decide I'm not good enough for you?" Ron said as if he'd just discovered some titanic secret. "Perfect know-it-all Hermione Granger is too good for Ronald Weasley!" He went on in an annoying tone, "What? Don't I have enough gold for you? Not famous enough? First Krum now and now Harry?" he sat, red faced as he flung accusations at her. "What are you going to do, snog him on the first date like you did with Krum? Going to leave him for someone _better_ like you did with me? GOOD! I don't care that we didn't end up together if you are just going to be some, some damn Niffler-woman!" he finished with an insult.

Bringing up Viktor struck a nerve with Hermione, flash backs of the Yule Ball row springing to mind and the insult cut her deeply, but it was the second slight against Harry that really set her on edge.

"You know what Ronald? Yes. Now Harry. You know why? Because he's been the complete opposite of you since I could remember, where you've always, _always, _belittled me for my beliefs, used me just to get homework done, been inconsiderate of my thoughts, made fun of me through cruel jokes and called me names_ he_ hasn't. He has been _brilliant_ to me, to the both of us Ron, and this year we just seemed to forget that, well you know what? _I _remembered how great he's been. _I _finally realized what's been staring at me for so long and I wised up. And you should to! Grow up! You had your chance with me and news flash Ronald you _completely _botched it up!" she hissed, "_You_ decided you weren't good enough, you went and started dating Lavender _after_ we had already agreed to be each other's dates! Your attitude, your pigheadedness showed me that you didn't deserve to be fancied by me!"

"That's a load of rubbish!" Ron had seemed hurt by her words but quickly reverted to anger. "I bet you are just sniffing around Harry because you've noticed that he's got Luna now! You just can't handle _not_ being needed. Well guess what know-it-all? It's true! _I _haven't needed you this year and Harry hasn't needed you either! Not in Potions and he certainly doesn't need you when he's got Luna to fu-"

Hermione didn't know if she slapped him because of the foul language he was about to use, because of the insults and insinuations he'd been flinging at her, or because of what he was about to say. Deep down, however, she knew it was because he was about to confirm her worst fears.

She simply couldn't bear to hear that.

"Ron Weasley," she choked out, her hand stinging from the resounding crack her palm had generated as it hit his left cheek and tears pooling around her eyes, "you-you-" she turned around, grabbed her belongings and stormed out of the hospital wing, completely ignoring Madame Pomfrey's commands to stop and return. She stormed straight out, completely unaware of her direction as she struggled to see through her tears and the sleeve she was using to clear them away.

She suddenly felt 12 years old again, running away from a mean spirited Ron who'd hurt her feelings and caused her to finally cry.

She walked around for some time, earning odd glances from passing students who commented in hushed tones at her distraught appearance, before finding an unused classroom that she holed up in to cry. Ron's words came crashing down on her as her tears started flowing freely.

She continued to cry for some time before her voice went hoarse and she ran out of tears, reduced to the odd sniff and there, her eyes puffy and tear stained.

She'd realized, a long time ago, that it helped whenever someone, usually Ron, hurt her feelings to distance herself from the situation. It helped deal with the name calling, the insults, and the loneliness if she imagined the entire chain of events as purely an abstract behavioral report on subjects in some study. It may not be healthy, but it was how she dealt with things. And that's what she did for the next few hours, she couldn't bear to think about the comment he'd made about Harry and Luna, she was sure she'd start crying again if she even ventured into that territory, hypothetical or not. She tried to focus on Ron's behavior, maybe if she could understand why he said those things she could move past them faster. She wondered why he was so thick headed, so insensitive, which led her to her current ruminations.

_Maybe he gets to be a prat when I was interested in other boys because he's overly protective of me? If so he has a terrible way of showing me he cares about me._ She scowled as she contemplated her situation. _Maybe,_ she went on as her mind started churning, _he really does just have the emotional range of a teaspoon. _Hermione sighed, she'd known this for a while now, just why had she expected him to suddenly change? She blamed it on her unfounded crush on the boy. _If so… _Hermione pondered this line of thought for a while, wondering if it made sense given what she knew of Ron. His interaction with the opposite gender was limited to his sister, Lavender, and a few of the Gryffindor girls… but then that wasn't much interaction was it? He did seem to bicker a lot with Ginny and she did bicker back at him, if she was ever hurt by any of the things he'd say she didn't show it, or if she did it was through her Bat-Boogey hexes or similar. An interesting thought came to her mind, _Maybe that _is_ why he acts like a git to me, it's all he knows!_ _He sees me as a sort of sister figure, and since he's overly protective of Ginny he applies that same attitude towards me?_ _He must have applied the same attitude he has towards Ginny in his relationship with her, and while he most certainly didn't care for Ginny in that way,_ Hermione was quick to point this out-if only for her sake-_he most certainly applied his treatment of his sister to me! _Oh how it made sense! He bickered with Ginny and no one seemed to call him on that. The twins, as far as she knew, always laughed when Ginny would get back at him with a prank or hex, Charlie and Bill… she didn't know enough about them to guess. Mister and Missus Weasley, on the other hand _did_ reprimand him for fighting with Ginny. But maybe they didn't think he extended that behavior to anyone else, after all, no one had ever told them what a git he acted like. _I also never say anything,_ Hermione realized. If he did get in a row with her during her visits to the Burrow, they'd always get over it and reconcile in their own way… and that seemed to be the problem. She'd established this sort of interaction with Ron by not telling him this wasn't the way she operated. Of course she'd complained, called him a git and a prat, but she _always_ accepted his apology without much fuss. He'd say he was sorry, usually through some shy or half-baked apology, and she'd accept it. She'd never once actually put her foot down.

_But not this time._ She promised herself. _He went too far today._

She was done making excuses for him, maybe he was the product of ignorance, maybe no one had told him not to act this certain way, but that didn't matter anymore. It was no excuse and if he ever tried to apologize she'd make sure his apology matched the hurt she'd felt today, she'd make sure he really meant it and even then she'd make sure not to give in too easily to him.

"Hermione?"

She was suddenly startled by the door to the room opening, a Quidditch uniform clad Harry Potter stepping in, his eyes went wide at her appearance.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

She wanted to say nothing was wrong, hoped that he'd somehow buy that excuse and completely disregard her red and puffy eyes, or the small amounts of makeup she'd applied that were surely running down her face, or any of the other myriad reasons why anyone could plainly see that she had been crying recently. Maybe if she really wanted it some accidental magic would fix up her appearance or Obliviate his memory of her appearance, or make her invisible, or cast some mild notice-me-not charm around her. Anything to hide that she was currently hurting. But Harry was having none of that and immediately engulfed her in a strong hug. She immediately broke down again as several conflicting emotions battled in her heart. She felt safe in his arms, safe from Ron and all the insecurities she held, safe from the name calling and safe from being alone. She was touched that he'd somehow appeared for her when she needed it the most, she was happy to see him, she was dreadfully afraid of what Ron had almost hinted at between him and Luna, terrified that he might not see her the way she sees him. She wanted to slap him too and wildly reprimand him for not teaching Ron to be more caring like he is, wanted to vent at him and ask him how boys could be so stupid and insensitive, wanted to ask him if it was true that he was seeing Luna, wanted to scold him for not noticing her sooner, wanted to scold herself for not noticing him sooner, wanted to push away from him because he had the stench of sweat on his body.

But mostly she wanted to be hugged.

He hugged her while she attempted to fight back the tears that threatened to start up again, he laid his head atop of hers and gently rocked the both of them side to side while combing her hair.

"Miss Granger," the Scottish accent of one Headmistress McGonagall startled her again. Hermione looked up and stared at the Headmistress from Harry's embrace.

"Miss Granger," she repeated in a softer tone as she saw her favorite student's face. "I received word from Madame Pomfrey that you and Mister Weasley were involved in… an incident in her hospital wing?"

Hermione nodded while Harry gave her a curious look.

"Well, I should say that you of all people know the rules regarding conduct in the hospital wing?" Hermione nodded again. "While I may turn a blind eye to the vocal disagreements you have with Mister Weasley inside Gryffindor Tower, I do not tolerate such conduct spilling out beyond that, least of all inside the hospital wing where students are supposed to be resting _not_ woken up by two bickering students." she stated as she watched the girl flinch in Harry's arms. "10 points from Gryffindor Miss Granger, for conduct unbecoming a Prefect and you may not re-enter the hospital wing for at least two weeks and even then only if Madame Pomfrey thinks you can walk in there without causing another scene." She watched as Harry held Gryffindor's brightest student as she withered under her punishment before walking away. "And Mister Potter," she added at the doorway, causing both of them to look up at her, "10 points to Gryffindor for upstanding moral support for a friend." And with that she was gone.

A few moments later Harry started snickering under his breath, causing Hermione to try to swat him on the chest lest she catch his laughter too.

"It's not funny Harry," she tried to scold him as she started descending into a fit of giggles. "I just lost Gryffindor points!"

"Well I got them back didn't I?" he replied. "The Chosen One, saving Gryffindor House points since 1991." He added in an air of mock arrogance. "Besides Hermione," he leaned in as he held her, "We got to see that the Headmistress is a big softie."

Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes at the green eyed boy who held her in her arms. "Yes well… we already know that didn't we?"

"Sure," Harry relented, "But it's always nice to be reminded. You and Ron had a row then." He stated, "You want to talk about it?"

"No," she blushed, thankful that he couldn't see her face right now. She wasn't in the mood to tell Harry that he was the reason they had a fight, even if it was indirectly. "Not now at least. Maybe some other time."

"Alright." He said as he gave her a squeeze.

"Great, now Harry, could you let go of me? You stink." She instantly regretted the request when she was out of his arms.

"Yeah, sorry about that Hermione, I just came down from Quidditch practice when Professor McGonagall came looking for me to see if I knew where you were."

"I see. How'd you find me?" she asked.

"Marauder's Map. I snuck a glance at it once she left to go search for you then went up and offered to help look. I figured it must have been important from the look on her face." He looked over at her as she tried to adjust her uniform and skirt and cast a charm he didn't know to clear up the effects of her crying. He reached over and helped fix her hair, pushing a few stray strands out of her face.

"Right," she squeaked, "so… shall we go then? You smell like you need that shower."

Harry pulled up his arm and smelled his armpit, his face grimacing at the smell. "Yeah, I suppose you are right." He looked at her and grinned and held out his arm for her. "Coming then milady?"

"Honestly Harry! I just told you you smell horrible."

Harry simple put out his arm closer to her, his grin still on his face.

"Honestly, you are impossible." Hermione scoffed as she took his arm and walked out of the room with him.

"So Quidditch practice?" Hermione offered in a lame attempt to steer their minds into happier grounds.

"Yeah," he sighed. "With Ron out I need to find a new Keeper and it looks like McLaggen is going to be it. Practice was hell with him today-" he ignored her 'mind your language' line- "he might be a good Keeper, but he's got a giant ego. Thinks he can order the whole team around."

"And that's your job?" she asked him with a smile.

"Yes!" he instantly replied, earning more laughter from the two. "I remember first year, when all I had to worry about with Quidditch was catching the Snitch," he reminisced.

"Ah, memory lane. First year everything did seem simpler didn't it? But now look at you, Quidditch captain and more fanciable than ever, Chosen One, best friends with a Prefect." She teased.

"And you!" he teased right back, "Prefect, also more fanciable than ever, much more mellow and friends with a chronic rule breaker." She blushed at his comment.

"Hey Harry?"

"Mmh?" He said absentmindedly as he recited the password to the Fat Lady before allowing her to step through the portal first as they reached the common room.

She turned up to look at him and wanted to briefly give him a kiss on the cheek. Or at least, she'd lean in for a kiss on the cheek and then "accidentally" get his mouth instead. It was the perfect chance, he wasn't paying much attention, she figured he was getting to feel the fatigue of his practice, and she could write it off as an accident because of her current state.

_Gryffindor courage, Gryffindor courage._

"Can I borrow your glasses?"

_Gryffindor chicken._

"Sure?" He said, baffled at her odd request. "I guess I don't really need them right now since I'll just shower and be back… but why?"

Hermione realized she suddenly had to make up a reason. "I've always wanted to wear them, I-well when I was younger I thought people with glasses looked smart and-"

"I dissuaded you from that notion?"

"Awfully big words for you Potter, now you want to hand them over or not?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Sure," he said as he placed them over her eyes and taking a second to correct their positioning. "There, you look smarter already. Pretty too."

"Thank you." She smiled at him, blushing once again at his praise. "Harry these glasses are terrible, your eyesight must be awful. Now, go shower before you stink up the common room."

"Yes ma'am." Came Harry's dull reply as he stalked off towards his dorm, leaving Hermione by herself. She smiled after him and turned, her vision blurry, to find several blurs in the common room-which she guessed were people-staring at her. Or she guessed they were staring at her. Her suspicions were confirmed when they suddenly whipped around and went back to their previous conversations, games or books they were reading. One of the blurs, Hermione recognizing the red streak as Ginny, stalked off towards the girl's dormitory. She ignored them and tried to make her way to her table, bumping into nearby chairs and tables along the way, before she lifted the glasses off of her eyes to see the path before her. The world was hard to navigate when her eyes were telling her everything was smaller and further away than it really was and reading was almost impossible. The entire experience, while fun, was also starting to give her a head ache.

"Lavender, Parvati," she said as she saw two people sit down next to her. "What?" she asked at their stares.

"What's going on?" Parvati asked, while Lavender beamed beside her.

"What do you mean "what's going on?", she replied as she looked back at her text book, trying to adjust the distance she'd have to hold it out in front of her before she could read it.

"Why are you wearing his glasses?" she whispered, "Why'd you come in on his arm like that? What happened?"

"What happened Parvati," she began in a lecturing tone, the headache being exacerbated by her questioning tone and Lavender's ridiculous smile. "Is that Ron and I got in a row again, a big one." Lavender's smile faltered a bit the two girls saw the look of sadness that passed over the bookworm's face, Parvati giving her a pat on the back, "And, I wasn't feeling to good. Harry found me just before Professor McGonagall reprimanded me for causing a scene in the hospital wing and no-I don't want to talk about it." She added at their curious looks. "Harry found me and, well he made me feel better."

"I'll say," Lavender winked at her, causing Parvati to giggle. The dark skinned girl suddenly gasped, which draw the attention of a few people in the common room.

"You didn't!"

"I didn't what?"

Parvati leaned in and waggled her eyebrows.

"No!" she denied vehemently, slamming her book down on the table, again catching the attention of several nearby people.

"But you wanted to," Lavender interjected. She's seen the little display that had transpired between the two at the door.

Hermione didn't answer, though Lavender counted her silence as such, and instead changed the subject. "Well if you two are done rumor mongering," Hermione scolded them, though she couldn't resist grinning at Lavender, who she had to admit had been right on the Harry issue, "I'll just go back to my reading," she continued as she cast another glance at her text. "Or maybe I'll just wait here for Harry to get back."

"Well there he is now," Parvati pointed out as the three girls glanced at the stairs leading to the boy's dormintory, Harry standing in all his post-shower glory. "He looks fan_tastic_ with his hair wet," she girl sighed.

"He looks as blind as a bat though," Lavender added as they all saw him stumble around without his glasses. "You should give him back his gla-oh!"

The three girls gasped as Harry missed his footing and fell down the last step of stairs, crashing into the ground with a groan.

"Harry!" Hermione jumped out of her seat to help the boy. Unfortunately her poor vision with Harry's glasses, small headache and sudden movement also caused her to come tumbling down not too far from the poor boy her face hitting the floor quite painfully. "Oooh my nose."

"Are you two alright?" Lavender said as she walked over to the two, casting a glare at Parvati, who had descended into a fit of laughter.

"I've been through worse falls than this," Harry replied, "I just can't see."

"Oh Harry, this is my fault I-" she'd realized that Harry's glasses had been broken, one of the glasses completely shattered and the frames bent at an odd angle. "Oh Harry! You're glasses I-they must have broken when I fell," she latched out to him, holding him by the shoulders, "I'll get you new ones. I'll owl my mother and she'll go right quick to the optometrist and get you new ones, better than these. What's your prescription?" she began in a hurry.

"Hermione what." Harry began, completely unsure why she was exaggerating. "Don't-"

"What do you mean don't! I broke your glasses Harry. How much do the-"

"Hermione!" he startled her when he pulled out his wand and aimed it at the glasses still on her face. He saw the confused expression on her face. "I'm a wizard remember?"

She didn't seem to understand.

"Oculus Reparo."

His glasses suddenly snapped back, the frame as good as new and the glass creaking as it was suddenly mended through magic. Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she suddenly could do nothing but stare at Harry through his glasses, causing him to grin.

"Yeah, I remembered that one. See, it's alright. Better?" he asked as he stood up and offered his hand.

She looked up at him dumbly, still not able to say anything, her mind completely blank.

She suddenly felt 12 years old again, staring up at Harry Potter as he saved her from the troll in the girl's bathroom, she suddenly felt 12 years old again, she felt the same "Holy cricket!" expression she'd first had when she realized who he was on the Hogwarts Express. She suddenly felt 12 years old again, the words coming out of her mouth without any input from her brain.

"Harry, you're a great wizard you know." She said in a whisper.

"I'm not as good as you," he replied with embarrassment. "And besides you taught me this spell."

"Books! And cleverness!" she recited from years ago. "There are more important things, friendship and bravery and-" she stopped as a million billion thoughts and moments burst into her mind, all of them involving the green eyed raven haired cheeky grinning mischief managing Quidditch captain Chosen One best friend Harry James Potter. Each of them suddenly falling into place in her mind in their rightful places. She silently slipped her hand into his and wondered how she'd never noticed how strong he is, how easily he could pick her up. She could tell he was saying something to her but couldn't find it in herself to respond at all even though she desperately wanted to. He asked if he could have his glasses back and she simply stared as he took the glasses off of her and slipped them back on. She heard him say he felt "much better" with his glasses on and smiled at her. Her legs gave out from under her and she'd have fallen if she wasn't already in his arms. She didn't protest as Harry and Lavender assumed she was still a bit dizzy from the fall, she felt great as Harry nearly carried towards the stairs to the girl's dormitory and felt naked when he handed her off to Lavender to take her up to her room and lay her down.

"You alright there bookworm?" Lavender asked as she settled the bushy haired woman in bed. "You're a bit heavier than I'd have thought." She received no response. "Well… I'm going to go back out then."

She missed the smile on the girl's face as she left the room.

Hermione seemed to lay in her bed for a life time, though in reality it was just a minute, as she pondered the new order and structure her life had taken. Nothing made sense one moment and then suddenly it all did the next. She suddenly bolted upright, a tremendous smile on her face, and reached over for some parchment and her quill, knocking over her ink jar in the process as she began to write out something. Her hand was working faster than her brain and she had to repeatedly cross out entire segments of her letter, the words not sounding important enough.

Finally she settled on 'keep it simple stupid' method.

_Mom,_

_I understand romance songs now._

_Hermione_


	9. I've Fallen for You

**AN: **Again, again, thank you for your reviews and for adding this to your favorites/alerts list. I love em all.

You know, writing Hermione in love is kinda hard because there's nothing to go by in the movies. Yes, I know that in _Half Blood Prince_ she loves Ron and does so until the ending of the series, but there isn't much (at least to me there wasn't) time to see the two in a normal relationship instead of running around for their lives. As a result, I don't think I have any clue how the "canon" Hermione would act when she's in love with someone. I know that when she saw Ron kissing Lavender she went off to cry and later sent her birds to attack him and acted insanely jealous (of which I think I got about right in this fic) which is pretty oddly out of character for her, but then the movies (and that one book I read) are all from Harry's POV, so it could be that Hermione is a big softie inside but partitions away that part of her during her school time. I think _Half Blood Prince_ does show that she's not perfectly mature and can handle everything like and adult and has a less adult side to her.

Also I found out that prior to the time of this fic Hermione asks Harry "How does it feel when you look at Ginny and Dean?" (Or "Dean and Ginny") and that he's her best friend, so she knows how he looks at her. I think in _Half Blood Prince_ he'd already started noticing Ginny before this… and yet in this story no one has brought it up (even Hermione, who _should_ be worried that he's interested in Ginny and somehow also Luna). So my easy answer out of this is… Harry didn't notice Ginny in this fic. This is either a cheap easy way out of my failure to know what was going on in _Half Blood Prince_ or my totally awesome in-character explanation since Luna and Harry were closer in this story than in canon.

I've noticed I'm taking longer to update between chapters, sorry about that but real life developments are cutting into my writing time.

Also again the legal reminder that I don't own _Harry Potter_, blah blah.

* * *

**I've Fallen for You**

Hermione sat nervously in the common room. Today was the day of the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match and while it wasn't an important match in the grand scheme of the entire Quidditch Cup, it was incredibly nerve wracking to Hermione. She wasn't nervous about the match itself, she actually didn't care for the sport beyond supporting Harry, and recently Ron, during the matches, but she was nervous about what came afterwards. She had decided that today was the day, today she'd ask Harry on a date. She'd had it all planned out, when he caught the Snitch, not if but when, and won it for Gryffindor, she'd congratulate him, give him a hug that lasted longer than a friendly congratulatory hug had any right to and stick with him throughout the post-game celebration. Then when Harry started to edge away from the party, as he always did, she'd take him aside somewhere private and tell him that she greatly enjoyed their growing closeness and that she'd like to explore the possibility of an even closer relationship, she'd propose a date come next Hogsmeade trip. Of course she wouldn't do it in such dry language, but that was the general thrust of her plan. She was sure she could do it, she'd written a speech that she'd practiced in a mirror under the cover of night and privacy charms, she'd psyched herself up throughout the past few days, she'd ran through several scenarios in her mind. She knew she could do this as well as she knew the entire lesson plan for each of her subjects for the entire year.

There were two potential snags in her plan. The first and foremost was the small, infinitesimally small, chance that Harry wasn't interested in her in that way. Of course, this fear was reasonable depending on how Hermione thought about it. Did Harry love her? Yes… as a best friend. Did he love her like she loved him? Probably not. This idea didn't deter her from her plan, nor did she hold this against him, she knew that Harry's upbringing had probably stumped his emotional growth, so while he didn't feel the intense feeling of love that she felt for him, it was fine. She was sure that, at the very least, he fancied her she was also sure that she had a chance with him. If he did accept, if their date went well, if she was able to hold off telling him exactly how she felt, maybe in time he'd fall in love with her too. Then and only then would she tell him that she had already fallen for him.

Unless of course he was already involved with Luna. Luna was the second and biggest obstacle in her way. She'd have no luck in getting to talk to the dreamy-eyed blonde about her relationship with Harry and he was being tight lipped about the situation as well. Hermione admitted to herself that she wasn't really trying to find a way to talk to the girl; she had the terrible fear that _if_ she was somehow already involved with Harry that she wanted to hear this truth from Harry himself.

_No,_ Hermione shook her head as she sat at her table; _I've no reason to believe that. All I have are suspicions, not actual evidence._ After a small inner debate she ignored all thoughts about Luna and instead focused on her appearance, something she'd been doing a lot recently. It was pathetic really. Hermione didn't share the passion that Lavender or Parvati, or several other girls-and some boys-around the world held for looks. She enjoyed the occasional nice dress or bit of clothing and did occasionally apply small amounts of makeup, she admitted that fashion held cultural and artistic merit, but she'd never read _Witch Weekly_ fashion articles out of pure enjoyment nor would she spend her entire allowance on a single pair of shoes, or put on excessive amounts of eyeliner or lip gloss, it just wasn't her. And yet ever since she realized she was in love with Harry she tried to put more thought into her appearance, a difficult proposition when she considered that her clothing was not of the flashy or revealing type, owned a total of 1 vial of perfume and had little to no clue about styling her hair. So she did what she could, she wore her short sleeved shirts more often, tried to comb her hair and keep it tamer than usual, applied the small amounts of lip gloss she owned and used a tad more perfume. But beyond that she smiled at him more often, touched his arm or held on to him during their walks, hugged him more frequently than she had in the entire span of their friendship. She felt incredibly nervous when she met him in the mornings; she anxiously waited to see if he noticed her improved appearance, or commented on her perfume, she even wondered if she was smiling correctly. She'd fall into daydreams about him when she was in class, reading or studying for upcoming exams, she'd find herself doodling his name over and over, and her heart soared when he told her he was sure she'd pass her Arithmancy test last week.

She'd even completely embarrassed herself once.

They were in the Great Hall having lunch one Tuesday afternoon when a girl in Gryffindor, a 7th year Hermione didn't recognize, with an ample chest was wearing her uniform with the top few buttons undone, giving anyone who cared to look a pleasant view of said ample chest. A few of the boys at the table were openly gawking and Harry, Hermione found to some dismay, was casting surreptitious glances at the girl too. She was furious. Throughout the meal she'd "accidentally" nudge Harry in the ribs or click her spoon against her plate much louder than necessary to draw his attention. Granted, he was a young teenage male who'd never had much experience with girls and he did in fact seem properly contrite whenever she'd bring him out of his staring, but Hermione was annoyed. In a desperate bid to draw his attention her again she'd declared that they should be heading off to class and asked, quite innocently, if she her uniformed looked ok. As Harry gave her a confused look she made a show of sticking out her chest and smoothing out her shirt, purposefully stretching it against her body so that the definition of her breasts was increased.

They'd both walked to class incredibly red-faced and glad that no one else had seen the incident play out. Neither of them spoke a word of it again nor did Hermione ever attempt such a blatant display again.

All in all, Hermione concluded that love is stupid. It made you do stupid things.

She nervously adjusted her jacket and scarf one last time before groaning and letting her head into her arms.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked herself.

"Hermione, are you sick?" a voice asked from behind her, causing her to jump up in her seat. She whipped around in her seat, her eyes falling on Harry decked out in all his Quidditch captain glory, a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?" he asked slowly, somewhat startled by her sudden response.

Hermione couldn't help but keep her eyes from roaming all over his body.

_He looks absolutely fantastic._ She thought, wondering how she'd never realized how dashing he looks in that uniform. "Oh, I'm fine I was just… how are you?" she asked, hoping to get the topic away from her.

Harry seemed to scrutinize her for a few seconds before answering, "I'm as fine as I can be I suppose. A bit nervous though. By the way Hermione, you look nice." He added with a smile.

_Ah._ Hermione's face began to heat up, "Thank you Harry." She began fiddling with her scarf, "So, let's go down for breakfast?" she asked as she stood up, her hand on fire when Harry helped her up.

"Yeah, come on. Hopefully I'll be able to hold it all down. I haven't been this nervous since the first time I played," he admitted. "I just hope McLaggen can play as well as he talks."

"Yes well, don't worry about McLaggen," Hermione counseled as she hooked her arms around his. The butterflies in her stomach were back in full force. "You'll do brilliantly Harry, I'm sure that even with McLaggen on your team you'll win this."

The two chit-chatted away until they reached the Great Hall, most of the Gryffindor team sitting in a large group, Harry led the two of them to the edge of the team and sat down, Hermione taking her spot next to him. The Quidditch team greeted the two, Harry receiving pats on the back and looks and words of encouragement from his team mates, "We'll, beat 'em Harry," "There's no way we can lose," and similar. Hermione encouraged him too, giving his hand a squeeze under the dining table and constantly reassuring him that he'd do greatly. She couldn't help but laugh when he looked over to the Hufflepuff table and seemed to size up their team; he was incredibly intense when he wanted to.

Not too long after Ginny sat down across from them.

"Hey Harry, Hermione," she greeted as she sat down, immediately seeing Harry's nervous look. "Don't be like that Harry, that look doesn't look good on you at all. You've got this down, McLaggen or no McLaggen. We need the youngest Seeker in a century, not someone who looks like they can't even fly a broom."

Harry's laugh was great, though Hermione's enjoyment of it was marred by the fact that Ginny joined in with her own airy laughter. She was also a bit annoyed that Ginny had cheered Harry up so quickly.

"Thanks Gin," the girl smiled at the nickname, "You're right. We'll win this."

Ginny nodded, "You bet we will." She smiled before leaning in from across the table, motioning Harry to do the same. Hermione leaned in too for reasons she couldn't fathom. "Don't worry about McLaggen, Peakes and Coote know to keep the pressure on the 'Puffs, hopefully McLaggen won't have to do any actual keeping at all."

"But McLaggen is a pretty fine Keeper," Hermione interrupted out of guilt as she remembered placing a Confundus Charm on him during the tryouts. "He saved 4 out of 5 saves; an 80% success rate isn't bad."

Both Harry and Ginny gave her looks that immediately told her it was the wrong thing to say.

"Hermione, don't be daft," Ginny began, "McLaggen is good but not great. Ron is way better _and_ Ron doesn't think he can take Harry's place as team captain and order everyone around. No one on the team likes him." She huffed as she leaned back into her seat and began attacking her food.

"Oh," Hermione replied smartly, unsure how she'd get out of her faux pas, "Well I think-oh, look. Luna."

Sure enough Luna arrived and stood behind Harry. Since the girl was standing while Harry stayed seated, Luna had to bend over a bit as she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and pull him into a hug, her head resting on his shoulder as their faces met cheek to cheek. Hermione bristled at the display.

"Hello Harry," Luna began in her airy voice, "I look forward to your match today, don't worry, I'll be wearing a charm I devised, it'll attract all the Rapscallion Scamps to me instead of you, and that way they won't drain your luck today. Mmmh, at least I _think_ that's what it will do, you never know with Scamps."

Hermione would have rolled her eyes but she was too busy glaring at the two. Harry seemed to notice this and looked incredibly awkward under the gaze of Luna, Hermione and Ginny. "Oh, thanks Luna, I'm sure you've got that charm right." He shot a brief glare at Hermione when he heard her scoff under her breath.

"Oh!" Luna gasped, "I've also got a surprise for you today!" she said in a sing-song voice.

Hermione, who was trying to cool down with a nice drink of pumpkin juice coughed into her drink. She did not like how that sounded at all.

"Oh? What is it?" Harry asked.

"Harry, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" She asked with a laugh before turning serious. "Would it? If I told you now wouldn't it be as much as a surprise if I told you later?" She finally released the hug she had on Harry before crossing her arms in a thoughtful look.

"Shouldn't we be going Harry?" Ginny cut in, Hermione silently thankful that someone had supplied a real reason to separate Harry from Luna. "Come on, we've got to get some pre-match planning going on." She stood up from her seat as her plate magically disappeared.

"Oh you're right!" Harry said as he himself stood up, Hermione following close behind. "But I've got to go talk to Ron first; I promised him I would swing by the hospital wing for him today. I'll see you in a bit Ginny?"

Hermione wanted to go with him, but realized that she still hadn't been given permission by Madame Pomfrey to re-enter the wing and even if she had permission she wasn't sure she'd want to walk into that room on Harry's arm. That situation could easily turn ugly. She hesitated as he started to walk away, before catching up to him. "So, I won't see you until the match is over?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Don't think so, unless you don't look at me when I'm playing Seeker?" he asked with a smile.

"Of course I look at you, all the time Harry. Oh, uh- good luck out there." She finished to cover up her slip and, in a split second decision, grabbed him in a hug and planted a big kiss on his cheek. Her heart hammered in her chest as she pulled apart from him, both their faces a deep red. She couldn't help but smile to herself as he almost stumbled his way out of the Great Hall, a goofy grin on his face as his arm touched the spot where she had kissed him.

Hermione sighed contently, even though she'd prefer to kiss him on the lips one day she couldn't help but feel entirely happy with a kiss on the cheek.

She turned around to a dreamy faced Luna and an unreadable Ginny.

"What?" she asked at Ginny's expression, something about it rubbing her the wrong way.

"What do you mean what?" Ginny snapped, "I could ask _you_ the same question."

"What?" Hermione asked, confused at the red-head's sudden change in mood.

"What?" Luna's airy voice interrupted the looks the two girls were giving each other. When both the Gryffindor bookworm and the Chaser turned to look at her she looked down and started playing with her Butterbeer cork necklace. "I thought we were doing a thing." She said.

"Whatever, I'm going to the Quidditch lockers, goodbye." Ginny replied before walking off.

"I wonder why she acted like that," Hermione pondered as she looked at her friend walk off. "She was fine until…" She cut off that train of thought and looked over to Luna, who was also looking after the red-headed girl. "Has she said anything to you?" Hermione asked nicely, "If she going through something right now?"

"Mmmmh," Luna hummed as she began to slowly move her arms from side to side. "Would it still have been a surprise if I had told him?"

Hermione bit her tongue and took in a deep breath. _Sometimes Luna is just too much._

"You should head down to the Quidditch field and get good seats Hermione, I have to go talk to Professor McGonagall," Luna added, "Bye then!" she waved off before skipping back to the Ravenclaw table.

"Luna wait!" Luna either didn't hear her or choose not to listen as she continued on her merry way to the Head table. "Drat," Hermione muttered under her breath, "Missed another chance to talk to her. Oh well."

Hermione spent the next few minutes walking down to the Quidditch pitch. She'd have to get there earlier if she wanted to get a good seat to watch the game from, or more accurately, a good seat to watch Harry from. As she walked towards the Quidditch pitch, receiving a few hellos from some of the sparse students she knew, she began thinking about Harry. Again, it was maddening because it felt so natural. She'd _always_ worried about Harry, how could she not when he was at the center of yearly plots on his life? How could she not worry about him when he was her first real true friend, the skinny little boy who'd jumped on a Troll's back to save her? How could she not worry about him now that he was the center of her world? But she didn't feel a great dramatic change in her relationship with him; she only felt a natural progression. Before, when she just considered him a friend, she would wake up and look forward to seeing her best friend Harry Potter, she'd want to talk to him, study with him and laugh and joke with him. Now she wanted to do the same, but she'd also want to snuggle up against him, hold his hand, kiss him. Before when they'd talk walks around the lake or strolls through the grounds of the school, they'd talk and joke about anything or nothing at all, but now she wanted to do that while holding his hand, she'd want to thank him for his small and sincere compliments with a kiss. And she felt all of this for a boy she wasn't entirely 100% sure felt the same was about her. She sighed, _Oh well._

"Hey Hermione," she heard a voice call from ahead of her. Lavender and Parvati, along with her twin Padma, were up a head and waving her over. She smiled as she sped up to meet them. Before this year she'd have never thought she'd consider Lavender or Parvati her friends.

"Good morning Lavender, Parvati, Padma." She greeted. "Are you three on your way to the Quidditch pitch too?" she unnecessarily asked.

"Yes we are," Padma answered before motioning to the other two, "I had to convince my sister and Lavender here that getting there early was a good idea."

"And," Lavender cut, "we only left when we did because _someone _is sweet on the replacement Keeper."

"It's not like I want to date him!" Parvati objected. "I just like looking at him…"

"I'll never understand how I'm related to you," Padma sighed in mock sadness. "All of my looks and none of my brains."

The four girls continued on their path to the stadium while Lavender and Padma still teased Parvati about her crush on McLaggen, and began to tease each other about their crushes or previous crushes. Hermione was a bit shocked when they began to tease Lavender about her relationship with Ron as she had assumed the breakup would have put her in bad spirits. Hermione's mood increased just listening to her friends tease each other, she didn't have many female friends-and Ginny seemed to be upset about something and her mother was far, far away- so she never seemed to enjoy "girl chat" and while she didn't care for the subject matter she did find the joyful teasing tones to be enjoyable.

"Well sis," Parvati said after a stretch of teasing jokes being tossed her way, "I seem to remember _you_ giggling just as much as I did when we were younger."

"I never-"

"Oh?" Parvati said as she turned around and faced her twin, "So it was time for the Yule Ball years ago you weren't swooning over Harry?"

Lavender and Parvati laughed at Padma's sudden silence while Hermione looked at the second Patil twin in shock.

"Really?" Hermione asked as she suppressed a laugh. "But if that's true?" she looked over at Parvati with a questioning gaze.

"If you mean why did my dear sister get to accompany him to the Yule Ball," Padma supplied, "that is because we flipped a coin. I lost. But that was years ago, I'm _not_ swooning over him, no matter what _some_ people say, I've grown up. There are more important things than chasing boys, this is Hogwarts, we are here to learn." She finished with a glare at her sister, who only laughed in response.

"Lavender, Hermione, I'll let you in on a secret." She suddenly said in a mock whisper as she motioned the two girls to lean in, all the while her twin sister looked on in shock. "Well, you see Miss High and Mighty No-Nonsense over there," she pointed at her twin, "says she's over Harry but in-"

"You wouldn't dare." Padma said as a look washed over her face and she rushed to cover her twin's mouth.

"-reality," Parvati continued as she fought off Padma's sudden attempts to shut her up, "she's got a full sized post of Harry Potter in her room back home!"

Lavender's peals of laughter nearly doubled her over and even Hermione had to laugh at the usually calm Ravenclaw's sudden sputtering.

"Harry Potter is an important historical figure; I have to have a poster of him as he's a contemporary_ and_ a fellow Hogwarts student! I'd be disregarding a great part of wizarding history if I didn't!" she stammered out. "I'm sure several other witches have posters of him for academic purposes."

"Yes," Hermione mirthfully replied, "_academic_ purposes." Padma looked like a fish out of water as she gaped at the well-known Gryffindor bookworm and her innuendo. "It's ok if you have a poster of him Padma, I really do agree that he's fanciable. Is the poster of him in his Quidditch uniform?"

"Why?" Lavender finally controlled her laughter. "Want to see if she's got a copy of your poster? Oh, _that_ shut you up!" she added when Hermione suddenly dropped out of the conversation. "Come on, you said it yourself that it's ok, so have you got a poster of him?"

"No," Hermione answered much more quickly than she'd have liked to. "I've got photos of him-oh stop that!" she snapped as she saw Parvati's eyebrow's disappear into her hairline, "Normal pictures! Friendly pictures taken between friends as friends."

"Uh-huh." Lavender said with a knowing smirk. "What else?"

"Well," Hermione admitted, "I did have one book that featured a few chapters about him and his role in the War, purely from a historical and objective context mind you. And yes," she added as Lavender began to say something, "I'm fully aware of those cheap fantasy novels they've written about him and his supposed adventures and those trashy two-sickle romance novels but I've _never_ read them and I never will."

"I would have figured you would have," Padma added as Lavender and her twin sister started whispering and giggling amongst themselves. "If only for the pure entertainment value."

"Oh who cares about books? Of course Hermione doesn't read them, she's one of his best friends, she's with him all the time. She's probably the only girl that knows what his hugs and kisses feel like." Parvati cut in as Hermione squeaked in surprise.

"Well," Padma continued on as she missed Hermione's reaction, "I don't think it matters much, as he only seems to be attracted to Ravenclaw girls." She added with a bit of pride.

Hermione's ears perked up at this. _Of course! How could I have been so stupid! Padma's in Ravenclaw, she _must_ know about Luna!_

"How do you figure that one sis?" Parvati asked as they crossed the gatehouse that led out of the training rounds, the Quidditch pitch looming in the distance. "The only Ravenclaw he's had eyes for was Cho and that didn't go well from what I hear."

"Yes, their relationship was unfortunate," Padma answered while Hermione mentally winced. Though Harry had never blamed her or told her this, she was positive she was part of the reason they didn't work out, a small part, but a part nonetheless. "But he's with Luna Lovegood so-"

"You don't know that." Hermione suddenly snapped, startling the three with her sudden change of tone.

"Well," Padma said a little uncertainly, "recently she's been seen in his company quite often, they went to Slughorn's party together and there's a rumor that they even kissed, so I think it's a good guess that they are a couple."

"Well if they were dating he'd have said something about this to me." Hermione replied in a strict tone. "Since he has not said anything about any sort of relationship beyond friendship with Luna, then it isn't so."

"Yes, but-" the girl continued before being interrupted again.

"No buts. He hasn't said anything, so they are _not_ dating." Hermione ground out, aware that she was taking out her frustration about Harry and Luna's hypothetical relationship on the poor girl.

Padma looked at her sister and her friend, both of them making gestures to cut it out. As far as they all knew if Hermione Granger said something about Harry Potter was or was not true then her word was law. She was speaking _ex cathedra_, no one needed to go around Hermione and double check her answers with Harry himself, she had spoken and that was that.

Lavender, however, was closer to Hermione than the other two, and was clearly seeing the signs of frustration on the bookworm's face. She held back and allowed the two twins to catch up-silently giving Parvati a look to explain Hermione's affections for Harry to her twin sister-and started walking along with Hermione. Hermione caught on to her intentions right quick and the pair started to slow down while the Patil twins started to speed up a bit, putting a respectable amount of privacy space between the four.

"So," Lavender began in a calm tone. "I'm guess you like Harry now?"

Hermione calmed down, a considerably easy task when she thought about a pair of bespectacled emerald eyes. She looked over at Lavender and offered a small smile. "More than that Lavender, _much_ more than that."

"Really?" Lavender asked as Hermione's face lit up.

"Yes, you were right."

"That's great!" Lavender squealed as she hugged Hermione. "So when are you going to tell him?"

"Oh not for a year at least!" Hermione replied, terrified of the idea of telling Harry she loved him only for him to turn her down. "No, I'm barely planning on asking him out after this match. I'm not going to tell him I love him, what if I scare him off? Or ruin our friendship?" Hermione sighed, "I hate to sound melodramatic, but I don't think I could take it if Harry rejected my love. If I told him I love him and he turns me away? No, it would be much easier to tell him I fancy him first… then later…" Hermione's glum mood improved as she dared to imagine that "later" in her mind.

"Ah, so that's why you reacted to Padma's suggestions."

"Yes." Hermione admitted sheepishly. "I feel terrible, I should apologize.

"I think Parvati's got that covered," Lavender supplied, "She knows you like Harry, I can't wait to hear her reaction that you love him." She giggled. "For what it's worth Hermione, I think Harry is crazy about you."

"You think so?" Hermione asked with a hopeful look as the butterflies started flying around in her stomach. "Why do you say that?"

"Well I'm sure you've seen how he's been treating you recently right? The way you two act around each other is not the way two platonic friends act. I'm sure if you ask him out today he'll say yes. He's smitten with you you know; you'll be able to bag your man. Don't be so nervous Hermione; this isn't some exam or assignment you are going to be graded on. You're just asking out Harry, not the Quidditch captain that several girls have a crush on, not the hero of that Ministry fight, not the guy who _Witch Weekly_ is constantly writing gossip articles about, but Harry Potter your friend, that nice guy who's kinda quiet in class, great at DADA and laughs and smiles at you like you mean the world to him."

"Thank you for the encouragement," Hermione beamed as she felt less worried about her plan to ask Harry out. "He is brilliant isn't he?" she sighed as her face appeared in her mind's eye and she absentmindedly played with the necklace that hung around her neck.

"Well, well, Hermione Granger, star-struck love-smitten girl. I never thought I'd see the day." Lavender laughed at the girl's sheepish grin, "Now come on, looks like P and P already reached the Quidditch entrance, let's all go sit there together. You can support Harry while Parvati ogles McLaggen."

As Hermione and the three girls found seats she mused about the two girls, Lavender and Parvati. She realized that their budding friendship was great, it made her feel much more normal than she had felt before. She'd always craved friendship and found it in Harry and Ron, but she realized she'd been missing friendship with peers of her own gender. Ginny was her closest female friend, but sometimes Hermione felt a small gulf between the two that couldn't be bridged, presumably because of the one year gap between their ages. Lavender and Parvati were in the same year as she was, and while they didn't share all her classes they did have the looming fear of N.E.W.T.s coming up, they shared the same busy schedule and woes about the classes they did share. She'd also found a surprising amount of maturity in Lavender and, to a lesser extent, in Parvati, something she didn't expect from the two. She was also ashamed to admit that Lavender and Parvati were normal, they weren't involved in the struggle against the Death Eaters and Voldemort beyond their involvement in Dumbledore's Army, beyond that they seemed to live carefree lives, the lives Harry, Ron and she deserved. The type of lives that everyone deserved if not for the madness of a few individuals. She liked hearing their carefree conversations about boys, gossip and Divination, it helped take her mind off of the fact that the love of her life had near constant attempts on his life by the most powerful dark wizard of the time.

They quickly found good seats in the pitch and over time people began to fill the stands. There was a lot of muttering and excitement, people chattering and wondering about the Gryffindor team's chances to win the match with Ron out of the game and replaced by McLaggen, who was an unknown at the moment. Several people showed up decked in the colors of the team they supported with banners, large gag finger gloves, binoculars or Omniculars, streamers and noise makers. The thrum of so many students and faculty members in one place at one time was almost unbearable and it only increased into a deafening roar as the two Quidditch teams walked out into the pitch. People with Sonorus charms began chanting several Gryffindor or Hufflepuff songs. When a gaggle of girls bared their midriffs at the Quidditch team as they began to walk out on the field, the name POTTER spelled out across the girls, Hermione happily noted that a professor put a stop to their antics almost immediately. Hermione made a note to keep an eye on them in case they tried the same stunt, or worse.

Hermione's eyes immediately caught sight of Harry as he flew unto the pitch, his Quidditch uniform billowing out behind him and his hair whipped in the wind, something that gave him a roughed appearance that only accentuated his handsome looks in the minds of Hermione and several other young witches. He waved to the crowd and drew the yells of support, boos and screams of adoration from several of his fans. He paused when he caught her gaze and gave her a smile that melted her heart from all the way across the field, causing several witches near Hermione to swoon as they mistakenly took the gesture to be aimed at them. He flew over to her section of the stand, several of the girls squealing as he drew nearer.

"Hello Hermione," he said from his broom as he hovered next to her. "Wish me luck?" he asked with that trade mark grin.

"Good luck Harry," Hermione squeaked out as Lavender and Parvati giggled next to her, Padma rolling her eyes with a small smile on her face. She leaned over the railing and pulled him into a hug which he returned, "Good luck Harry, you'll do great out there." She said into his ear before planting another kiss on his cheek, the crowd around her going wild with catcalls.

"Thanks Hermione," He replied as he pulled back, a goofy smile on his face.

Lavender and the two twins next to her cheered out a "Good luck Harry!" in an overly flirtatious manner, causing both Harry and Hermione to blush a beet red before Harry flew back to his team.

"Looks like he only has eyes for you Hermione," Lavender said in an airy tone from beside her.

Hermione nodded as she saw Harry fly to the middle of the pitch with Madame Hooch and shake hands with Smith, who was the Hufflepuff team's Quidditch captain, and took his position with the rest of his team in mid-air. Hermione reached into her purse and pulled out her set of binoculars, which caused Padma to quip something about them being purely for "educational Quidditch related purposes. To see the _entire_ team play."

"Of course," Hermione huffed, "I have to be able to see the players to enjoy the game." She then immediately trained the binoculars on Harry as he took up his position in mid-air. A few seconds later Madame Hooch released the Snitch and Bludgers and finally the Quaffle-the game was on.

"And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle," a dreamy voice rang over the entire stadium, earning a few surprised and confused looks from the audience.

_Is that Luna?_ Hermione pondered as she pointed her binoculars at the commentator's podium. Sure enough, the dreamy faced blonde was standing next to an uncomfortable looking Professor McGonagall. _Who in their right mind would let Luna commentate?_

"Oh look, he's lost the Quaffle," she went on, "Ginny took it from him. I do like her; she's very nice even though she's been mean to me these last few months. Ginny, is it beca-"

"Miss Lovegood, stay on the game!" Professor McGonagall's voice cut in, causing the crowd to laugh.

_Ginny's been angry at Luna too?_ Hermione wondered briefly.

As the match went on Luna's commentary, which often incorrectly named players or went off into wild tangents, caused more laughter from the crowed, and Hermione saw just why McLaggen wasn't liked on the team. He might be a good Keeper when he was focused, but the way he was trying to take over the entire team and everyone orders at the same time meant that he let the Hufflepuffs score several points before Harry started reprimanding him. Through her binoculars Hermione could see Harry scowl as McLaggen issued order after order and missed Quaffle after Quaffle.

"Oh, Harry Potter is having an argument with his Keeper, Carmac McDonald-"

"Cormac McLaggen!" Professor McGonagall corrected over her voice.

"I wonder why?" Luna went on, "Oh well, I'm sure I'd side with Harry in the argument. He's nice and he's my friend." Her sincere comments drawing a few snickers from the crowd. "You know I kissed him at Professor Slughorn's party? He's a real good kisser."

"Miss Lovegood! Comment on the game not on Mister Potter's-" Professor McGonagall's voice cut in again as she stumbled over her words. "Comment on the game Miss Lovegood!"

Hermione did her best to ignore Luna's comments or the grumbling of the stadium of witches complaining that "Loony" got to kiss Harry but they didn't.

_If anyone has a right to complain it's me._ Hermione mentally grumbled before shaking that thought away. Unfortunately it was hard for her to focus on Harry as Luna continued to comment on Harry's dancing ability or how "spiffy" he looked at the Christmas party. She'd occasionally comment on how the giant white puffy creatures in the sky looked like clouds or how there was a faceless man in a black suit standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch that no one else seemed to see. All throughout the match she commented on those things instead of trivial matters like Smith failing to maintain possession of the Quaffle or Ginny and Demean scoring points before Cadwallader tied the game by getting past McLaggen for a third time.

"Seventy-forty to Hufflepuff!" Professor McGonagall called into the megaphone over Luna's startling description of the Faceless Man's facelessness.

"Is it, already?" Luna questioned, "Oh look! McDonald's got one of the Beater's bats."

Hermione knew enough about Quidditch, and learned enough about McLaggen during the course of the game, to know that the Keeper shouldn't be taking the Beater's bats away, and turned her gaze towards him. Sure enough he had taken Coote's beater bat and was arguing with the boy about something. A Bludger was heading towards him and McLaggen raced out to meet it with his newly acquired bat. He was certainly strong, because he hit that poor Bludger with a tremendous crack that resonated across the field. The Bludger was smacked away at such speeds that Hermione couldn't turn fast enough to track its course. She did, however, hear the sickening crunch that resulted from the Bludger hitting Harry straight in the head.

"Harry!" Both Hermione and Luna's shouts where the loudest in the stadium, though Luna's was the loudest as it was blasted through the megaphone system. The entire gamed stopped, with the Gryffindor team flying over to their captain who had been caught by a Hufflepuff Beater before he'd plummeted to the ground. The crowd also surged forward to try to get a better look and Hermione found herself fighting the throng of people who rushed towards the stands closest to Harry. A few hectic moments of pushing and shoving later and Hermione found herself down on the pitch itself as she rushed forward, thought of Harry rushing through her mind.

"Let me through! Let me through!" she shoved her way past several gawking Quidditch players and a few professors and came across Luna cradling Harry's head in her lap. Hermione's heart came to a standstill as she saw a giant gash across Harry's head with a stream of blood gushing out of it, staining Luna's robes, his own Quidditch uniform and the grown beneath them, Luna's small hands covering the worst parts of the wounds. "Harry!" she cried as she made a move towards him before being held back by a pair of arms.

"No don't!" Ritchie Coote's voice rang out behind her, "He's got a head injury, Loony's keeping the pressure on him so he doesn't lose more blood than he already has, we can't move him." He tried explaining as Hermione struggled in his arms like a mad woman.

"Let me go!" she screamed, "LET ME GO! I need to help him!"

"I've got the emergency Portkey!" Madame Hooch's voice rang out as she appeared, "Keep on Miss Granger," she nodded towards Coote. "I'll be taking Mister Potter along with Miss Lovegood here to Madame Pomfrey's, I shall be along shortly." The Quidditch referee knelt down as she placed her goggles on Harry's unconscious form and a hand on Luna's shoulder and disappeared with a pop.

Coote released Hermione, who sank down in a sobbing heap where Harry had been, Demelza gathering her in a hug as she too began crying, Ginny coming in and putting her arm around her shoulder as she attempted to comfort her too. Hermione cried as visions of Harry's injury and prone form flashed through her mind, she couldn't think about anything else as she lay there. She felt sick as she saw the huge blood stain on the grass before her and felt entirely useless wailing like a baby while Harry was being taken to the hospital wing.

"Thanks a bloody lot McLaggen!" Ginny's angry voice rang out before more members of the Gryffindor team began to speak up.

"Yeah what the hell was that?" Coote began, "Keepers aren't supposed to take the bats off of Beaters! I know how to hit a Bludger well enough!" he added in.

"Language!" one of the nearby professors chided, though none of the players took heed to his warning.

"If you did I wouldn't have taken the bat off of you!" McLaggen began defensively, "What you think this is my fault?" he shouted.

"Yes this is your fault!" Ginny screeched, "Whose fault could it be but yours!" Even a few of the Hufflepuffs began chiming in that McLaggen's behavior was terrible.

"Listen here!" McLaggen shouted as he pointed a finger at Ginny's face, "If Potter had been a better captain _I _wouldn't have had to-"

His tirade was cut short as Hermione suddenly shook off the crying Demelza and sprang up from her spot and decked McLaggen with a full on uppercut, his lip and nose being busted into a bloody mess as he fell backwards, none of the Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs bothering to make a move to catch him before he fell with a heavy thud. Hermione stood, her hair in a mess, a bloody and aching fist and tears in her eyes as she tried to bring her breathing under control, the crowd gawking at her, with the nearby professor sputtering in shock at seeing the Gryffindor Prefect knock out the much bigger Quidditch player.

"Where is Harry's broom?" Hermione demanded only to continue receiving stunned stares and silence. "Where is his broom?" she repeated.

"Hermione, I don't think you-" Ginny began.

"GIVE ME HIS BLOODY BROOM THIS INSTANT!" Hermione bellowed, causing everyone to flinch back. That finally did the trick, as his broom was suddenly handed to her from a terrified looking Hufflepuff. She snatched it out of his hand and stormed through the crowd which parted before her, completely disregarding the professors demands that she" stop this instant" and kicked off, her natural fear of flying being completely overshadowed by her current state of mind. The castle proper zoomed up ahead of her as she made a mad dash towards the hospital wing, her knuckles turning white from the vise like grip she had on the broom. A few seconds later her landing was an uncoordinated mess as she realized she was going much too fast to be able to stop properly, her quick thinking mind devised an ingenious plan; crash land into a hedge. It was a minute later that she stormed up to the hospital wing doors, sweating and panting with leaves and branches stuck in her hair, a few cuts marring her face. She reached for the doors and found them immovable.

"Let me in!" she yelled as she pounded on the double doors and continuously tried to force them open. "Let me in!"

"I don't think they can hear you," Luna's voice called from behind her, the blonde witch sitting on a waiting bench nearby. "The only ones inside are Harry and Madame Pomfrey. Oh, and I guess the other patients."

Luna's calm voice did nothing to soothe Hermione's nerves; in fact it had the opposite effect.

"You!" Hermione yelled as she advanced on the sitting girl, "How can you be so bloody calm at a time like this! How can you just sit there and not worry about Harry! He's in there right now with a cracked skull and you are just sitting patiently outside!" Hermione even kicked the bench she was sitting on, which did nothing but hurt her foot. "This isn't one of your fantasy dreams Luna, Harry's in there with a serious injury!"

Luna's face darkened and she held out her blood stained hands, her lower uniform and skirt soaked with blood. "I _know_." She said in a serious tone.

Hermione seemed to deflate at Luna's display, and the events of the past few minutes caught up with her again, the stench of blood on Luna's body making her head swim. Hermione suddenly turned and heaved in the hallway, her breakfast coming up and burning her throat and lips.

"Scourgify. Scourgify persona."

The stench of vomit disappeared as the slop Hermione had thrown up was hit by Luna's spell before she was suddenly overcome with the feeling of a thorough shower as her lips, throat and residue vomit that had clung to her hair disappeared in a flash. She turned around to see Luna point her wand at herself before muttering her spell a second time, the blood disappearing off of her clothing.

"You are welcome." Luna said in her usual tone. "Harry wouldn't want us stinky when we go in to see him."

Hermione sighed in defeat, too emotionally spent to argue anymore. She sat down next to Luna and began to impatiently tap her foot and bit her lip as time stretched on before muttering "Please be ok, _please_ be ok." over and over.

"Harry always gets into situations like these," Luna suddenly spoke up, "He always comes out fine."

"I _know_, that does not mean I don't worry whenever it happens." Hermione ground out tersely, insulted that someone was lecturing _her_ on Harry's various injuries. There was silence after that, and half an hour went by with no Madame Pomfrey appearing at the double doors to tell them that Harry was ok and that they could finally see him. Hermione's nerves became more frayed as time when on, she began wringing her hands in her lap and biting her lip in frustration. It was several minutes after that when her mouth gained a mind of its own.

"I won't let you take him away from me you know." She suddenly began, Luna turning to look at her with a confused expression. "I won't let you take him."

"I didn't know you were religious Hermione," Luna began, "I didn't figure you for the type."

Hermione clenched her hands into fists. "I'm not talking to God Luna, I'm talking to you. I won't let you take him away from me."

"Oh. What do you mean?"

"Just that. I don't care if you've been his friend these past months; I've been his friend longer. I've been there for him first year, second year, third and fourth and fifth! I've been there every step of the way since the beginning! I'm one of his closest friends, gave him his first hug and his first kiss," she left out the fact that it was on the cheek instead of on the lips, "I've been there for him and share a bond with him that neither you nor anyone else could _ever_ hope to touch. I'd die for him and I'm sure he'd die for me! Neither you nor anyone can come between us. I won't let you."

A moment of silence passed as Hermione glared at Luna and Luna simply faced her with her daydream expression.

"You know," she began with her soft voice. "At the beginning of the year I thought the real Hermione Granger had been abducted by the Faceless Men and that they'd put an impersonator in her place. Or maybe that someone was spiking you with Love Potions, or that you'd been infested with Wrackspurts, or that you had a lobotomy." Hermione's anger grew at Luna's nonsensical ramblings. "But now I see that you _are_ the real Hermione Granger. This is really you."

"What is your point?" Hermione asked.

"My point," Luna continued, undeterred by Hermione's tone, "Is that you used to be so pretty."

Hermione wasn't expecting that remark.

"You used to be so great Hermione Granger, the type of friend Harry needed. But this year you showed him you were jealous, vindictive, and worst of all, absent." Luna's eyes started to glisten, Hermione sure that the girl was about to cry. "You don't know what it's like to lose a family member. Harry has no family anymore. Do you know what that's like?" she asked as her voice cracked. "You don't. I don't. My mum went away but my daddy is still here. _All_ of Harry's family is gone now." Luna took a moment to compose herself, Hermione shocked at seeing the usually calm blonde on the edge of a breakdown. "And neither of you were there for him. He needed someone to hold him and Ron and you weren't there. You both just thought Harry would accept your little squabble because you've been there for him in the past. Well I have news for you Hermione Granger," she said as she stood up, "Just because you were there for him before doesn't make up the fact that you weren't there for him now!"

"I-"Hermione didn't have any time to respond.

"And I wanted to help you Hermione Granger. I wanted to help you so badly; I wanted to help Harry get his two best friends back."

Just then the doors swung open, Madame Pomfrey looking ragged as she took in the sight of the two girls before her. "You may see him now, but!" she held up a hand as the two of them began in her direction. "He is not awake at the moment, and please keep your voices down. Miss Granger," she shot Hermione a look, "I'm allowing you in on the condition that we have no repeats of last time. I'm also allowing you in even though you are currently in some hot water for putting McLaggen in a stretcher."

Hermione simply nodded dumbly, both her and Luna zipping towards Harry's cot as soon as Madame Pomfrey stepped to the side.

"Oh Harry," Hermione gasped as she saw his unconscious form, a giant bandage wrapped around his head, his glasses off to the side table. She began running a caressing touch along his cheek with Luna moving to the other side and taking his other hand. "My Harry." Hermione continued before engulfing him in a hug, careful not to lift him or disturb him too much. "Harry, _please_ make it out of this. Please get out of this, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"He doesn't look good." Hermione commented as Madame Pomfrey appeared beside them.

"A cracked skull, it isn't serious enough to be life threatening but enough to be worrisome. He'll be here for at least a few days. Fixing the skull itself is easy, fixing the trauma of the impact and the loss of blood is less so." She placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder, the poor girl's body shuddering with silent sobs. "Miss Granger, he'll be _fine,_ he's out of the thick of it, all he needs is a recovery now." Seeing as the girl was unresponsive she bid her exit and made her way back towards her office.

Hermione cried over her Harry for what felt like an eternity, she hated seeing him in pain or injured or lying so deathly still in a hospital bed, her heart always breaking at the sight of him like this. As she cried she held on to him tightly, leaning over and kissing his cheek over and over in hopes of waking him. "Please wake up Harry, wake up. Don't do this to me now; I have so much to tell you." She drew herself up, holding his head in her hands, her thumbs slowly rubbing up and down his cheeks. "I love you Harry. I love you so much. Wake up so I can tell you properly. Please."

The two girls stayed there for a few hours as more people arrived to wish Harry well; Ron had peaked across his cot to see him and to tell him when he'd wake up before closing his privacy curtains after sending a glare at Hermione, the Gryffindor Quidditch team, minus McLaggen, the Hufflepuff team who told Hermione to pass on a message for her, several students and friends of Harry. Lavender, Parvati and Padma made a short visit to see Harry and also check up on her, and finally Hagrid, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Before that group left Professor McGonagall made a show to stay behind.

"I assume, Miss Granger, that you know I should talk to you?" she questioned. At Hermione's nod she continued. "I have been... asked to refrain from handing out your punishment at this moment but don't take this lightly Miss Granger. We _will_ be discussing your actions today and you _will _suffer the consequences. Do I make myself clear?" She waited for Hermione to nod in acceptance before turning and walked out of the room.

"You punched McLaggen." Luna stated.

"Yes I did." Hermione replied as she continued to run her hand over Harry's cheek, "And if I see him again I'll put him down twice. He's the reason Harry is here." Hermione looked down at the hand that she'd used to hook McLaggen; now that the adrenaline was running out she could feel it throb in pain. "I should get it checked my Madame Pomfrey in fact, I suppose it could be injured."

"And you love Harry?"

"Yes I do." Hermione replied, wondering what the girl was getting at. "Whenever he wakes up, I'm going to tell him. I don't care who he's with," he shot a glance at Luna and Harry's joined hand. "I am going to let him know, I'll fight for him."

"He'll want that?" Luna asked calmly as she made a move to swat an invisible something off of Harry's head. "I don't think Harry Potter would ever date anyone who'd cause trouble with his two best friends." Luna replied before sitting back down and holding his hand, "How's Ron?"

Hermione froze at that. It was true, she'd doubt Harry would be accepting of her as she is now, she'd left things half-done; her relationship with Ron hadn't improved at all, her attempts to apologize to him had ended solving one argument and replacing it with another. If she tried to tell Harry how she felt now, and if Ron disapproved… well, she knew Harry would do anything for either of them. He'd probably turn her down so he could keep both of their friendship. If Ron wasn't happy with their relationship there'd be no relationship. Not only that, but Luna had been right, both her and Ron had been banking on the idea that Harry would be fine so soon after Sirius' death that he'd be able to cope on his own and, on that reasoning they'd decided to put more efforts into their own respective problems. Hermione scoffed, suddenly laughing at herself. _Some problems. Boy trouble with me and girl trouble with Ron. I'm sure Harry could have sympathized with us. All he had to worry about was Voldemort, Malfoy and Sirius._ _No big deal for Harry._ She slumped her shoulders and sighed. _We've been terrible, _I've _been terrible._ She also realized that she _still_ hadn't actually apologized to him for her behavior either, she just assumed that her recent behavior made up for it.

"No," she suddenly declared as she stood up, her eyes never leaving Harry's face. "No, I'm not going to leave things like this."

"Who are you talking to Hermione?" Luna asked in a curious voice across from Harry.

"I'm talking to Harry," Hermione responded, "I'm talking to Ron, I'm talking to myself. The three of us aren't going to fall apart, not after all we've been through. This mess of a year is going to make us stronger, not weaker. And it starts now."

Hermione turned around and walked over to Ron's cot and flung open the privacy curtains that had been pulled around them, revealing a startled looking Ron Weasley.

"Is Harry awake?" he asked without looking at her, trying his best to look over at his best mate.

"No, he isn't."

"Well then what do you want?" Ron asked back in a foul mood.

"You and me Ron," Hermione crossed her arms in her no-nonsense pose. "We are going to talk. We are going to solve this. When Harry wakes up he is going to have _both_ of his best friends back." She reached over and used her wand to close the curtains around them before adding a second privacy charm around their small area.

Beyond the small private area she'd just set up Luna pulled up a chair next to Harry's side and sat down, again taking Harry's hand in her own. Her usual dreamy features improved by the large smile on her face.

"Good luck Hermione Granger."


	10. Passed Those Tests

**AN**: I'm going to sound like a broken record, but again, thank you for all the reviews and for the people who've put this story on their favorites/alerts list.

Hope you guys like this chapter.

* * *

**Passed Those Tests**

Immediately Hermione knew she was already approaching this the wrong way. She sighed as she pulled up a chair next to Ron, who was doing his best to look away from her with a sour look on his face. She sat down and made herself comfortable, she was sure she'd be here for a while at least. Ron's look was one of extreme annoyance; he looked more interested in the wrinkles on his bed sheet than he was in any sort of conversation with her. She wondered just why things had ended up like this between the three of them but hoped that things would go back to normal after this conversation.

"Look Ron, really, we have to sort this out. Harry's right there beyond this curtain with a head injury, a cracked skull Ron, and when he wakes up I want him to see _both_ of us by his side. I want both of us to be the friends we are supposed to be." Ron didn't respond and instead crossed his arms and stared directly ahead, ignoring her completely. "Ron listen to me." She asked, "If not for my sake then for your best mate, for Harry."

That seemed to do him in, and while Hermione was pleased that he still had a soft spot for Harry it also hurt to know that he was higher up on his list of priorities than she was. She saw him clench some of the muscles in his jaw as he turned to look at her, though he didn't face her directly. "What are you talking about? We've both hung out with him, not at the same time but still. He's fine."

"No he's not Ron." Hermione replied, "We'll get to that later, first I want to say sorry."

"You want to say what?" Ron turned to look at her with a confused look.

"I'm sorry Ron. For the way I treated you while you were with Lavender. I," she paused, "You chose her, and I should have accepted that with some measure of respect, both for your choice and for myself. I shouldn't have acted the way I did."

Ron kept his head hung low as he fidgeted with his hands. "I didn't choose her over you Hermione," he muttered. "Lavender, uh. Well she's not half as brilliant as you." He finished, his face slightly pink.

Hermione smiled at the compliment, though only because it was so hilariously late. Had Ron complimented her last year she knew she'd be blushing just like he was right now. As it was her heart was completely with Harry, and his compliment did nothing beyond remind her how much she'd changed and how much Ron had changed too, if he had stayed like he was now, a fumbling best friend who had trouble expressing his fancy for a girl, she'd have stayed holding that torch for him. Instead he turned into a jealous and insensitive prat and had inadvertently pushed her towards Harry. She turned her seat to face him head on, "Look, I won't say that I understand why you started a relationship with Lavender even after I had already asked you to the party, nor will I say that it didn't hurt and that I didn't feel betrayed whenever I saw the two of you kissing but I will say that I'm beyond that. Really I am and I want to put it behind us."

"I don't even know why you were mad in the first place." Ron muttered.

"How could you say that?" Hermione asked. "I just told you why I was angry at you, I asked you to Slughorn's party and then you go off and start a relationship with Lavender." She added in a voice that was barely holding back her anger.

"So? You did the same."

"What? I've never done anything of the sort, what are-"

"You went and snogged Krum didn't you?" Ron interrupted, reminding Hermione that he'd brought up Viktor once before and suddenly she felt like she was going to go in circles when it came to Ron.

"I _kissed_ Viktor"- she said before being interrupted by Ron.

"On a first name basis are you?"

-"which is _completely_ different than snogging Ron." Hermione continued as she talked over him. Ron didn't seem to know there was a difference, which was unsurprising giving his stint with Lavender. "Snogging is what you and Lavender did, or what you saw Dean and Ginny do," Ron bristled at the memory, "and I most certainly did _not_ snog Viktor or anyone else. I only kissed him on the lips, no longer than a few seconds if you must know. And he's been the only person I've done that with and that was only once."

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Yes you are Ron, because you are my friend and I'm telling you the truth. Even if I did do more with him-which I didn't-what does it matter? How does something I did in 4th year have anything to do with you going out with Lavender?"

"You went and snogged Krum behind Harry's and my back!"

"And you mention that I kissed him again," Hermione quipped, "Pray tell Ron, how are these two situations even remotely similar?"

Ron sputtered, seemingly unable to connect the two situations in any sort of way that made sense to anyone beside him.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter Ron. I kissed Viktor, yes, I went with him to the Yule Ball and I had a good time, if you didn't then that's your own fault. I'm not going to apologize for that again, and two years later at that." She paused as he scowled at the memory of 4th year and his disastrous date. "And I'm not going to ask you to apologize for leaving me high and dry for Lavender without so much as a word of apology. I don't care about that anymore, I really, really don't. I've done enough thinking about that and anymore heartache over that is useless Ron." She sighed, hoping she'd made her position clear. "I just want to put this nastiness behind us." She added in a tired voice.

"Just like that?" Ron asked suspiciously, "You're not even going to try to hit me or hex me, or cast birds at me again?"

Hermione pursed her lips into a thin line, her frustration growing even as she tried to stay calm. "Yes, just like that. Hexing you would be counterproductive to my goals." She added tersely.

"And you aren't going to say "Sorry that I doubted your Keeper skills Ronald, I should have had faith in you that you didn't need the Luck Potion to do good!" he said with a terrible impersonation of her, complete with what he thought much have been a spot on impression of her body language.

_This boy is impossible. _

"Ron, what was I supposed to think? Harry had the Felix Felicis in his hand and Luna said she saw him put something in your drink!" Hermione supplied in exasperation. "The logical conclusion was that he did add something to your drink!"

"I remember that conversation damn well Hermione. Harry said that "he didn't know what you were talking about" didn't he?" Ron shot back, "Well, why didn't you take your own advice and believe him then? Harry said he didn't add anything to my drink so that means he didn't add anything to my drink! I did good all on my own and you couldn't believe I had done so!" He was riled up now, and sat up even straighter, "You know I get enough comments thrown my way about how pants I am at being a wizard, how I can't get good grades without your help, how I'm nothing without you and Harry, how even my family jokes about me not having my own "thing" that I'm good at!", he ranted. "At this point I don't even care that my family doesn't have money because even if I did I'd still feel useless!" He pointed a finger at her, "So I certainly didn't need _you_ thinking I had to cheat to be good at Quidditch. I've got _one_ thing I'm good at, a ruddy damn game, and you couldn't even let me have that!" he finished with a shout that made Hermione grateful that she had cast the privacy charms.

Hermione was shocked, not at the outburst, but at the content of it. She really had no clue just why he had taken the news that she thought Harry had slipped him a Luck potion so hard. But now it made sense, she should have known that his low confidence wouldn't have been able to take that without some sort of negative repercussion. It'd be as if Harry turned around and called her a know-it-all in a demeaning way, or if Ron and she would taunt Harry for having no family.

"Ron," she said in a soft tone, "I apologize for that, I had no clue that you'd my suspicion that way, but that's ridiculous really."

"You don't tell how I feel," Ron snapped back venomously, "and you wouldn't know anyway, you've got things that you're good at, I bet your mum isn't hounding you to do something all the time and you've got no siblings to be compared to."

"Quite right." Hermione muttered darkly before sighing. "I don't know what to say Ron, I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You did great, you're a great Keeper and that was all you. No potions or luck, just you."

"Yes it was." Ron ground out. "And I'm a bloody amazing Keeper."

Hermione nodded. "Yes," she replied, thinking that she was laying it on a bit thick, but she wanted this to be over with. "Ron…"

Ron seemed quiet as he looked at her for a while, a frown still on his face. "Ok," he said after a long stretch of silence.

"Ok what?" Hermione asked.

"You said you wanted to put this all behind us," Ron offered in explanation. "Ok then. We'll do that." He said in a voice that clearly told her that he was having trouble admitting this, and he looked decidedly uncomfortable.

_That's it?_ She wondered. Even though she hadn't expected much from Ron, she expected more from him than just "ok"_. _However, she kept her tongue and accepted his response. She hadn't really expected him to apologize for any of his behavior, and if she was being honest with herself she wouldn't even be here at all if it wasn't for Harry. With what she knew now she could guess why Ron had started dating Lavender; He seemed to have self-esteem issues that ran deeper than she and Harry knew about, but that didn't excuse his actions, all it did was serve to help her construct an idea of Ron's frame of mind. Obviously her accusations of the Luck potion had offended Ron deeply, hurt him even, but was that enough of an excuse for him to betray her with Lavender? No, not in her mind it wasn't. Truth be told the situation was less than stellar, because while Hermione apologized for her actions throughout the Lavender affair Ron still hadn't, they were simply agreeing to ignore it and move past it. She was effectively letting Ron walk through this entire ordeal without having to admit he was wrong or take any blame. In an ideal world, Hermione thought, she'd hex Ron until he admitted that he was wrong to start seeing Lavender. But it wasn't going to be that way and frankly, Hermione did not care. She'd take her mother's advice to heart and get over it. Ron wasn't worth it, he simply wasn't. Any time she took to sit here and demand a real apology from him was less time she'd have to sort out the more important relationship in her life, their friendship. All Hermione wanted or cared for now was the friendship between her and Ron, between the two of them and Harry. Harry, Ron and Hermione, best friends since first year after they'd saved her from the troll, The Trio of Hogwarts, The three Musketeers as she once heard Harry say, the three spelunkers. And once that was sorted out she could hopefully start a real relationship with Harry. The situation wasn't resolved like she'd hoped it could have been but Hermione thought that Harry was worth swallowing her pride and going through with this.

"Thanks Ron," Hermione smiled, deciding that she'd take what she could get. "Well, now that we're past that," she waited for a moment to see Ron's reaction and continued at his nod, "I want to talk about Harry. I know I haven't been the best of friends lately, and you were right about what you said on the train." It was odd for her to admit that Ron was right about anything, especially recently. "I was the one who left Harry without a date to the party even though, well…"

"Even though it was clear he was about to accept you mean." Ron supplied from his bed. "Sorry about butting in on that by the way."

"It's alright," Hermione replied, even though she thought that it wasn't. She'd missed her first chance at a date with Harry. Had she had the privilege of being his date to that party maybe they'd be further along in their relationship right now, but it was the past and she couldn't go back and change that. Time Turner or no.

"So what do you mean about Harry?" Ron asked.

"Well, I know for a fact that I haven't been the best of friends for him this year. I've recently started to try to change my behavior, but I haven't really apologized for my actions… and I'm guessing that neither have you."

"And like I said, he's fine. He hasn't said anything so I don't really know what you are getting at." Ron replied dismissively.

"Don't." she snapped before remembering to control her tone. "I know for a fact that you two got into a row just before Christmas break and didn't get along smashingly during the Christmas break." Hermione continued on when she saw him involuntarily frown. "And something tells me that you haven't made up for that. And don't think he missed those dirty looks you were throwing our way recently." Ron flinched under her gaze; even now he knew when Hermione wasn't in a mood to argue. "And this is stops now."

"You're still mental. Harry is fine and I don't-"

"Do you know what I just realized?" Hermione interrupted, her tiny hands balled into fists on her lap. "Just before I walked in here I was outside with Luna. Do you know what she said?" She asked rhetorically, "She reminded me that Harry has no family left in the world."

A long silence passed between the brunette and redhead.

"She's barmy," Ron's reply came out in a hoarse whisper, "Nutters she is. What does she know? He's still got us and we're his family." He continued on in a slightly hurried tone.

"No," her reply was more forceful than she'd intended. "Don't do that, because I realize that I did that and look where it got me. Yes, we're like family, the three of us. You're like a brother to him and, and maybe he sees me like a sister," mentally Hermione cringed, that was the last thing she wanted right now, "And I admit, maybe your family thinks of him as an honorary Weasley…" she saw Ron nod his head furiously, "But it's not the same. It isn't."

"What do you mean it isn't?" Ron asked in a furious tone. "You and I know bloody well that he's my best mate, he's saved Ginny's life, he saved my dad's life, I'm sure he's saved my life several times, I know he gave the Twins their start-up money for their shop. Don't tell me this nonsense that Harry's got no family because he's got us!" he yelled with a vehemence that slightly warmed Hermione's heart.

"Ron, no. No matter how much we want it to be true, it _isn't_ the same. Imagine, for a moment," Hermione whispered, "That Harry didn't save Ginny in second year. Can you?" She looked up at him to see him with a hard solemn look, his breathing coming out in slow huffs. "Imagine that he didn't save your dad through his visions. Imagine they were both gone Ron, gone for good and forever." She took a deep breath as she imagined both of her parents gone from her life, leaving her as an orphan. "Imagine," she continued on as her whisper became softer, "That the twins are gone too, Percy, Charlie, Bill, your mum. I know that maybe you've got some issues you've got to resolve with your family Ron, but can you imagine waking up one day and they are all dead?"

Ron shook his head numbly, now that he was picturing a large graveyard with all his brothers, his little sister and his mum and dad he was very quiet and still.

"And not even that Ron!" Hermione choked out, "But your uncles and aunts and cousins! All of them gone! That's what Harry's living through right now, his entire family is gone. Not _a single_ person in the _entire_ world can say they are related to him. 5.8 billion people on the Earth," Hermione stated, remembering a news story she'd read over the Christmas break, "Billion Ron, do you know that number?" Ron shook his head, "A five and an eight followed by eight zeroes. 5 billion people and not _one_ of them is even a distant relative." Ron saw tears starting to form in Hermione's eyes and her breathing became much more pronounced. "No, I'm wrong, he's got family. The Dursleys," Ron was surprised by the venom in her voice as she spat out their name. "But that's no sort of family, those-those monsters don't have the right to be called his family at all, they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Harry's name."

Ron was starting to see Hermione get more and more distressed as she went on.

"And where the bloody hell have we been Ronald?" she demanded through gritted teeth, her body shaking in anger. "Huh?" she looked up at him with a fierce look in her eyes that made Ron involuntarily flinch back as he always did whenever he saw her get riled up about something. "We've been bickering like babies, like spoiled brats! "Oh no Harry! Don't use that stupid book!", "Oh no Harry! The boy I fancied went off with another girl!" All the while Harry had to listen to us complain and whine for months with that stupid noble heart of his he didn't tell us to shut it! Not _once_ did he snap at me and tell me to get over it; that he had to deal with bigger issues like the loss of his last remaining family member! He sat there and smiled and listened and let me cry on his shoulder and you!" she pointed a furious finger at Ron, "And he still went with you too! He took your relationship with Lavender in stride even when it made you late for Quidditch practice, even when it meant that if I wasn't there to keep him company you wouldn't be there either because you were gone snogging Lavender! He tried to be friends with _both_ of us and didn't take a side in our petty squabble!" Hermione closed her eyes and looked down, her tiny fists shaking in anger in her lap, "Oh I've been so _stupid._"

Ron had a pensive look on his face, because while Hermione seemed to be ranting about her own failures now her speech did make him think about his own. Hermione was right, not once did he stop to think about Harry's feelings in the entire matter, he'd only cared about Lavender and how good it had felt to get one up on Hermione. He'd only briefly asked Harry if he was ok once and then dropped the issue forever. He looked back at Hermione who was shaking, either in sadness or in anger at her own behavior he didn't know. He tentatively reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder flinching only slightly when she turned up to look at him.

"You're right, Harry is brilliant." He started, "He's bloody brilliant. We don't deserve being his friends do we?"

"No," Hermione said as she tried to clear her throat, "Not the way we've been acting recently."

"And yet he still calls us his best friends." Ron said as he began to pat Hermione shoulder in his most comforting show of support for her this year.

"He does." Hermione whispered.

"We've botched up good," Ron muttered, "But you're right you know, as usual. Come on, Harry might wake up soon and we'll be there for him. Like he's there for us."

"You mean that Ron?" Hermione asked as a giant smile grew on her face.

"Yeah," Ron nodded, growing more confident that his hand wouldn't be ripped to shreds by being so close to her. "Yeah I am."

"Oh Ron!" Hermione smiled and stood up to hug him. Ron, however, hesitated and seemed to draw back. They both made to hug each other again but couldn't decide how to approach the hug. In the end Ron just sighed and stuck out his hand, Hermione looking at it dumbly before smiling again and simply shaking his hand vigorously, remembering a similar episode after she awoke from her Petrification.

When they separated Ron gave her mischievous grin. "So I hear you're in love with my best mate?"

Hermione suddenly clamped over Ron's mouth, "Shhh! Be quiet Ron! I don't want him to hear you!" she said with a terrified look on her face.

Ron slapped her hand away with a laugh, "You've got privacy charms up Hermione! He can't hear us, so what are you so scared about? Have you told him yet?"

"No, I haven't." Hermione admitted, feeling silly after overreacting. "I only realized the day that you and I fought, I know that was a while ago," she said at Ron's incredulous look, "but…" Hermione sighed and leaned back before pulling open the curtain to reveal a Luna still sitting by Harry's side. She was leaning over him and smoothing out his hair while whispering soft words, one of her hands gently holding his own. Hermione's heart felt a terrible sensation go through it, and she quickly closed the gap in the curtains before they were noticed. "That's what I'm scared about. That and what if he rejects me?"

Ron grew quiet as Hermione looked at him, an idea popping into her head. "Ron, Harry mentioned that Luna visited him at the Burrow a few times over the break… what do you know about that?" Ron looked quite uncomfortable which made Hermione's stomach churn. "Please Ron."

"Well…" he looked at her, "Are you sure?"

_This doesn't sound good._ Hermione though with an increasing feeling of dread. "Tell me."

"I walked in on them snogging once." Ron said in a hurry, Hermione's face falling. "But!" he added in just as fast, "I think it was a onetime thing, I only saw that once and I don't think they did it again. The next time Luna came over they both looked a bit awkward around each other so… I." He stuttered over his words, "Maybe they just did it once?"

"Why would they do that if they didn't like each other?" Hermione asked in a small voice before she hung her head in her hands. "Oh…" she groaned. "What if I'm already too late?"

"I don't think so Hermione," Ron spoke gently, "Harry's not me. I don't think he'd choose anyone over you."

Hermione looked over at Ron and smiled, encouraged by his words before being startled by Luna's voice.

"Hermione! Ron! Madam Pomfrey, he's waking up!"

Hermione shoot out of her seat and made her way to Harry's side again, Ron grumbling behind her as he was stuck behind the privacy charm. Hermione looked down at Harry as he started grumbling and turning in his cot, "Harry," she whispered soothingly, "Harry it's me, you're ok, you're in the hospital wing."

"He'll be in a sort of daze," Madam Pomfrey's voice rang out as the head nurse walked over to their little scene, "I suspect he won't be much for conversation at the moment." She informed before casting some diagnostic spells over him, "Mister Potter, can you hear us?"

"Harry, stay still and rest," Hermione cooed after Harry tried to sit up, only to fall back down almost immediately. "Don't try moving so much."

He turned to look at her, a dazed look in his eye caused by the several pain relievers he was on. "Hey Squirrel. You…" whatever he was going to say died in his throat as he fell back asleep.

Ron overheard the entire thing and proceeded to start laughing, his raucous laughter muffled behind the still working privacy charms. He was driven into tears as Hermione squeaked "Squirrel?" as her face blushed furiously. Even Luna smiled.

"I think it's a nice nickname Hermione," Luna dreamily said. "Where'd it come from?"

"I've got no clue," Hermione admitted as she noticed their gazes on her, "I've never heard it before today."

"Well," Madam Pomfrey spoke up, "It looks like Mister Potter is still recovering. As I suspected, he'll be out until tomorrow at the least, now as for you," she looked at Hermione, "I've let you back in here on the condition that you wouldn't cause a scene again," she threw a glance over at Ron who had begun to calm down. "Although it looks like that won't be an issue now would it?"

"No Madam Pomfrey," Hermione admitted, embarrassed at being reminded of her punishment in front of Ron and Luna. "There's no issue with Ron and me anymore."

"Good," the elderly nurse replied, "Now, will you be staying as usual Miss Granger?"

Hermione nodded in the affirmative, and Madam Pomfrey took her leave after reminding her that she'd have to leave before curfew. It was a few moments later that Luna reached over and hugged Harry's prone form before looking over at Hermione and Ron, who still seemed to be under the effects of the privacy charm. "Well," she said, "I think Harry's in good hands. I'll be leaving then. Hermione, where'd you leave Harry's broom?"

Hermione brew in a sharp breath, she'd forgotten all about his broom outside. "It's probably still in the hedges outside, where I left it." She admitted. "How did you know I came in here on a broom?"

"The Faceless Man told me," Luna said dreamily before laughing airily, "No, I'm kidding, I heard you crash. Bushes you say?" And with that she turned around and skipped out of the hospital wing.

"-that one," Ron's voice cut in, causing Hermione to turn to look at him. "Oh you heard me? The charms must have worn off."

"Must have," Hermione replied absentmindedly as she looked at Luna skip away. She turned back to Harry, who looked sound asleep. "Madam Pomfrey said he'd out until tomorrow didn't she?"

"S'pose she did," Ron answered. "Gonna go question her?"

"Yes." Hermione said before lowering herself over Harry, "I'll be back for you Harry." She then kissed him on the cheek before scurrying out of the hospital wing, hot on Luna's heels with butterflies in her stomach. When she reached the entrance doors she found Ginny outside.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting to see Harry," she answered, "Is he still inside?" she asked.

"Yes but Madam Po-" Hermione didn't finish explaining as Ginny strode past her into the hospital wing, the doors closing behind her, "-mfrey said he'd be asleep." Hermione huffed at the girl's rudeness and continued on her way back out of the school. A short walk later she reached the small garden area that she'd landed in, a soft humming voice alerting her to Luna's presence.

"Luna?" she asked as she walked over to a row of bushes, "Is that you in there?"

Luna popped out of the shrubbery with several broken twigs and leaves tangled in her hair and a beetle crawling along her nose. "Look I found his broom." She said as she stepped out, Harry's Quidditch broom cradled in her hands and the beetle flying off. "And it's not broken and the Nargles hadn't stolen it yet. You know Nargles love to steal things, like my shoes, but they'd love to snatch something soo valuable away." Luna walked over to a nearby bench where she sat down and proceeded to check over the Firebolt, Hermione sitting down next to her.

"So what do you want to ask me Hermione?" Luna asked innocently as she picked broken twigs out of the end of the Firebolt, Hermione shifting uncomfortably next to her. "I bet you want to ask me what my relationship is with Harry right? Since you love him I mean."

Hermione wondered how Luna knew what she wanted to talk about. Either she was easily red or, more likely, Padma had talked to Luna at some point. "Yes, that's right Luna," Hermione answered as she wrung her hands together. Suddenly she dreaded hearing the truth. "Could you start at Slughorn's party?" she asked.

"Ok," Luna said as she finished cleaning the Firebolt. "Harry asked me to the party as friends, and I said yes so we went together. It was fun." She nodded happily with her explanation. "Oh!" she gasped as she saw Hermione motion to continue, "You want more then? Ok, on the way back me and Harry caught site of a Crumple Horned Snorkack and-"

"Luna," Hermione interrupted. "Please no jokes," she pleaded, "I just want to know if I still have a chance with Harry."

"Oh," Luna said as she looked at Hermione with her wide eyed expression. "Well… I won't say that were just friends that night, we did kiss." She went on in an even dreamier voice, a small blush coloring her cheeks. "It was my first kiss," she added in a happy tone as she touched her lips with one of her hands. "And it was nice." Luna looked at Hermione again, who was looking quite sick. "Hermione, let me finish my story before you run off crying ok?"

Hermione swallowed, her heart breaking at her words. She nodded slowly, though inside her mind was reeling. _Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no._

"Well, after the party we just walked around. Harry had that map so we were able to avoid any Prefects or Mister Filch, we went up to the Astronomy tower for a while, though Harry wanted to avoid that for some reason. We just looked at the stars for a bit and talked, and then decided to go to bed. He walked me back down to the Ravenclaw tower and we hugged goodnight. He's nice." Luna said as she thought back on that night. "Over the break he owled me, it was nice to get mail from a friend. I'd never gotten that before. Harry found out from Ginny that I lived near the Burrow, and wondered if I could go over or if he could visit me." Luna paused for a moment, "So I went over a few times since Daddy was too busy to have guests over. Harry didn't seem to be getting along with Ron, so he was alone most of the time. We talked and played games or walked around. We did this for a few days. We got closer too."

Hermione was on the edge of her seat, her knuckles white from gripping the edge of the bench, she had a forced smile on her face and nodded, waiting for the story to turn bad.

"I think it was a few days before Christmas that the twins, Ginny and Harry and me went to have some fun on our brooms. We flew around for a bit, but the twins started playing their own game and Ginny had to go back inside to help Missus Weasley prepare some food. I thought I caught sight of a Flying Talking Mudcrab and raced after it. It was just my imagination. Oh well," Luna looked genuinely sad at that, but brightened up at her next few words. "Harry chased after me, and after I found out I was seeing things we raced around for a good while. It was fun."

Hermione saw a blush spread across Luna's cheeks again. "And something happened?" she hesitantly asked.

"Yes, we kissed again. When we were done flying around and landed back in the Burrow's yard, I realized I had to go home. I hugged Harry goodbye but then found out that we weren't ending the hug. We were both smiling and laughing and still out of breath from all the flying and it just happened." Luna sighed dreamily, "It just happened. We started kissing. It wasn't a friendly kiss like the one we gave each other at the party, it was one of those kisses that some of the older years give each other." She giggled lightly, "It's so weird that tongues feel so good."

Hermione suddenly stood up, tears welling up in her eye. "Well, I think I don't need to know anymore." Her lip was quivering and she struggled to force it into a smile, "I'm happy for you and-"

"You said you'd listen to me before you ran off crying." Luna said, "Please Hermione, sit down. I don't want to yell at you again and make you listen to me."

Hermione considered Luna's words, she didn't want to listen to Luna, but also realized that her legs were giving out under her, she was dizzy and felt like throwing up. She sat back down simply because she felt the energy leave her body.

"Thank you," Luna said, seemingly unaware of Hermione's rapidly plummeting spirits. "So, we were kissing and Ron came out and saw us, he was pretty mad about that, but I don't know why. We stopped kissing of course and I left to go back home." She paused and looked down at Harry's Firebolt. "It felt wrong to kiss him."

Hermione's hair whipped around as she suddenly turned to face Luna.

"Harry's nice, he's my friend. But when I kissed him like that I felt like I was stealing something. I think he knew it was wrong too, because he couldn't look me in the eye for a few days after that." Luna sighed as she handed over Harry's Firebolt to Hermione. "Here. This belongs with you."

Hermione took the Firebolt from her hands.

"Sorry for being mean," Luna added with a smile. "I don't like being mean but you deserved it."

"I did." The brunette agreed, gently patting the Quidditch broom while looking it over.

"He fancies you." Luna said, startling Hermione with her words. Luna had to smile at Hermione's face as it nearly glowed with happiness. "It took him a few days, but he realized he fancies you. That's why he felt weird when he kissed me."

"Really?" Hermione asked, scarcely believing her words. "Are you sure? You're not kidding are you?" she asked in a hurry.

"I'm not kidding. I'm sure he does. He told me so, I wouldn't lie to you like that Hermione. I don't like being mean." Luna added as if it was nothing.

Hermione felt amazing and nearly squealed in delight. _He fancies me!_ She was suddenly glad that she had waited for Luna to finish, otherwise she'd be off in her dorm crying her eyes out at this moment. Instead she'd found out there was nothing between Harry and Luna. She turned to look at the younger girl who was kneeling down on the ground, picking at a nearby flower while muttering something. "Luna," Hermione called out to her, "Are you… Ok with me asking Harry out on a date?" she asked. "You don't?" She left her sentence unfinished, unsure why she suddenly cared what Luna thought.

"I said I felt like I was stealing something," Luna said as she stood up, picking a flower off of the ground and sticking it in her hair, "I felt like an Umgubular Slashkilter and Harry was like a Moon Frog. We wouldn't work as a pair, Harry would need another Moon Frog," she said with a significant look towards Hermione. "Just like you and Ron," she added. "You and Ron could have started dating, and maybe you'd be a good couple, but you wouldn't be great. You wouldn't be great like you'd be with Harry." She started walking around and picking up more flowers off of the ground. "My daddy told me that, after my mommy died," she said. "I once asked me why he didn't marry some other nice lady if he was lonely. I miss my mommy, but I want my daddy to be happy too. He said he was fine, he said he could fall in love with someone new, but that he'd never love that woman like he loved my mommy." She paused her gathering and turned back to Hermione, a few more beetles flying out of her hair as she did so. "We can all fall in love with different people, but there's only one person out there for each of us that'll be our one true love I think. If I stole Harry away from you and Ron stole you away from Harry… Well, we could be happy together, but we wouldn't be brilliant together like you and Harry would be. So I'm fine. I'll fine my own boy to be brilliant with one day. But Harry will always be my friend, I'm sure. I think he'll be in my life for a long while still."

"I'm sure he will, and I won't mind." Hermione flashed her a smile. She wasn't sure if it was because she'd gone through so many mood changes in the past few minutes but Luna's words made complete sense to her. If she paused to imagine a relationship, any sort of romantic future with Ron, she could admit that she'd be happy. But she'd also have to admit that there would be moments, perhaps numerous moments, where she wouldn't be. Where they'd argue and bicker, where they'd spend days on end without talking to each other over some trivial argument. Where they'd have a relationship that was completely unlike that of the ones she knew her parents had, like the one Mister and Missus Weasley had. They'd have a life where they were merely content with one another, not truly happy. But with Harry…

"You'll be brilliant." Luna supplied, as if she was reading her mind.

"Thank you Luna," Hermione beamed as she stood up, Harry's Firebolt in hand.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," the blonde girl responded. "I don't like being mean. And you don't have to thank me, I didn't do anything."

Hermione walked over and hugged her, which seemed to startle the girl. "Thank you anyway."

"Oh, ok then." She said in a surprised tone.

"I'd like to be friends Luna," Hermione said while still hugging her. "Would you like to be my friend? You, me and Harry and maybe even Ron?"

"That'd be nice." Luna said in a small voice.

It was a few hours later, after Hermione and Luna had walked into the Great Hall to have lunch together, to sort out any misunderstandings they might have still had, to simply talk and get to know each other, that Hermione walked back into her dorm and ignored Lavender and Parvati's questioning looks that she lay down in her bed.

_Harry fancies me!_ She thought over and over. If she wasn't so happy she'd be in pain over her constant smile, or she'd notice that she still hadn't seen Madam Pomfrey about her injured hand. Thinking about Harry brought on that funny feeling near the pit of her stomach, and now that she knew she didn't have to worry about Luna, and that Harry fancied her, she was on cloud nine. She couldn't wait until tomorrow when Harry woke up.

"Oh Harry," she whispered, "I hope you're ok."

She turned over in bed, unable to find any relaxing position to fall asleep in when she suddenly threw off her covers and sat up in bed. _What am I doing here?_ She felt an indescribable need to see Harry, she felt wrong being asleep in her own bed while the boy she loved was knocked out in the hospital wing and a plan began to form in her mind. She slowly got dressed and tiptoed out of bed, casting glances over at her dorm mates and hoped that she hadn't woken any of them up. _Everyone's asleep._ With that she snuck out of her dorm and into the common room and found herself standing in front of the stairs that led to the boy's dorms. She knew from _Hogwarts, A History_ that the stairs into the dorms were charmed to alert their Head of House if any one attempted to enter the dorms of the opposite genders, a security measure to prevent any illicit behavior between the students. However she'd also overheard gossip from some of the more daring Gryffindor girls that the security charms had long since failed and any girl could sneak up to the Gryffindor boy's dorm with no worry. Hermione, however, worried. She wasn't sure if she should trust the gossip or not. On one hand she hadn't heard of any girls being reprimanded for such behavior in the past… but on the other she wasn't even sure any of the current girls were up to any such behavior. And if the rumors were false and she did trip the security charms, how would they work? Would Professor McGonagall know it was her? Or would it simply be an alarm and she'd be able to run back before anyone knew it was her? _I always heard love made you do crazy things._ Hermione suddenly jut her foot onto the first step of the boy's dorm.

And nothing happened.

_Nothing I know about at least._ Hermione took caution to the wind and began to walk up the boy's dorms before she reached Harry's floor. She slowly pushed the door open and cast a look inside, satisfied that everyone seemed to be asleep. Luckily, since both Harry and Ron were in the hospital wing, only Neville, Seamus and Dean remained in the dorm, which meant she'd have an easier time sneaking in. She quickly found Harry's bed, and started rummaging through his trunk. She knew where he kept his Invisibility Cloak and quickly retrieved it before throwing it over herself, afterwards it was a quick search under his pillow for the Marauder's Map. She hesitated for a moment, feeling guilty for taking his possessions without permission. He had always said that she, along with Ron, were able to use his Cloak and Map whenever they wanted to, but it still felt odd to use them without his knowledge.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she whispered as the map came alive, filling with the entire layout of Hogwarts and showing the location of all the people within. She quickly scanned the area around her to make sure no professors were converging on her location to catch her in the boy's dorm and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no movement at all. Except for a few patrols, everyone seemed to be asleep. She quickly made her way back out and into the common room.

_If I'm caught…_ Hermione wondered, _I can try to pass it off as my patrol night, or that I'm covering for another Prefect._ No, that wouldn't work, if she was simply carrying out her Prefect duties, why would she be under an invisibility cloak, which was on the banned items list, carrying a map that most certainly would fall under a restricted item? _Ok,_ she decided. _I just won't get caught._

It was a brief but heart pounding jaunt through the castle later that Hermione entered the hospital wing, her nerves on edge because of all the sneaking around she'd just done. She made her way towards Harry's bed and immediately felt the entire experience was worth it as she saw his sleeping form. She touched his forehead, caressing that famous scar of his and lowered her head down to his as she pulled up the Cloak. "I told you I'd be back for you Harry. I'm never leaving you again." She drew closer and kissed him on the cheek again. The chair that Luna had used to sit next to him still stood by his side and Hermione pulled it closer to Harry's cot before sitting down on it.

Even in that uncomfortable chair, wrapped in a simple cloak to protect against the cold, she fell asleep so quickly. She smiled as she held his hand under the cloak, her heart fluttering with dreams of their future together.

She couldn't wait until tomorrow.


	11. Harry's Nurse

**AN**: Again, thank you for the reviews and for the people who've put this on their alerts/favorites. Gonna do something I haven't done in a while and respond to some of these reviews.

About Luna, I've been getting some feedback that Luna's too mean. If that's the case than I have to apologize to the character of Luna, since I didn't' set out to make her mean in the same way that I'm trying to not make Ron the giant idiot who is a moron just for the sake of being a moron (which I tried to hint at a few times already).

Here's a fun fact that might not be so fun – the original idea for this story would be that Hermione would be kicked into realizing her feelings for Harry both because of Lavender's talks _and_ because Harry would publicly start a relationship with Luna, a real one, not the one that almost happened in this story. But I dropped that because I wasn't sure I'd be able to write that.

**GenetiX23- **Yeah**, **without going into spoilers I do hope to put a scene where Ron and Hermione properly reconcile. It's weird that in the book (which, as I'm sure I've mentioned, I started reading as I wrote this) there is just a single throwaway line of "Oh Ron and Hermione are friends again", I don't want to do that.

**Guest who reviewed ch10 on 7/10/12-** I took notice of the films because they were my first exposure to _Harry Potter. _

**Dennisud-** Yes, this isn't a H/Hr/L story, just pure Harmony. The Harry/Luna is my third favorite ship, right behind H/Hr and H/Hr/L.

Oh, thank you to **Lupinesence, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, Katesmom2, spoilerlover, **and **HarryhermioneEdwardbella **who've reviewed almost every chapter so far.

Also, I made up some stuff in this chapter (namely the position of McGonagall's office and Harry and Hermione's favorite breakfast foods). Also, more stuff from _The Elder Scrolls_ because I've been playing a lot of _Skyrim_ lately.

* * *

**Harry's Nurse**

"Hermione?" a voice spoke to her as her mind transitioned from sleep to wakefulness. "Hermione wake up."

"Muh?" Hermione muttered as her mind fired up, the first thing she noticed was that she was terribly uncomfortable and her neck was sore. _I feel like I feel asleep over my books again,_ her thoughts coming to her in a haze, _Or like I spent a nig-_ her eyes suddenly shot open when she remembered where she was, and she jumped in her seat as she looked over to see Harry, amusement evident on his face.

"Well, good morning Hermione. Sleep well?" he asked as innocently as he could.

Hermione just ignored him and hugged him before looking him over, gently touching the bandage that Madam Pomfrey had placed over his injury. "Are you ok Harry? Did you sleep well? Do you need anything? Water? A new pillow? A new blanket? Here, I'll get it for you-" she made to stand up but stopped when he put a hand on hers.

"Hermione," Harry whispered, "I'm fine."

"Really?" Hermione asked with worry, her eyes roaming around Harry's face and body in search of any injury or hurt. She found none.

"Yes, I'm sure," Harry replied with a slight grin, "Although I don't fancy waking up to see a disembodied hand on my bed," he added in an amused tone.

"What?" Hermione asked in confusion before looking down at herself, her body wrapped in Harry's Invisibility Cloak, concealing most of her. The end effect was that only her head and her hand, which was currently covered by Harry's, were visible. "Oh yes," she said as looked down at their joined hands, smiling inwardly at the sight of the ring she'd given Harry for Christmas adorning his thumb. "Sorry about that," she said as she looked up at him, his eyes looking wonderfully amazing in the morning. "I borrowed your Cloak and Map, I hope you don't mind."

"I don't," he answered. "Thanks for watching over me," Harry added with a smile.

Hermione let out a short laugh, "You did the same for me."

Harry suddenly cast a look over to Madam Pomfrey's office before returning Hermione's gaze with a quizzical look and raised eyebrows.

Hermione caught his meaning and nodded, "You're right, I should head up to my dorm before anyone realizes I'm here. I'll be back in a bit alright Harry?" she asked as she stood up and draped the Cloak over herself, disappearing from Harry's view.

"I'll be fine Hermione," Harry replied, feeling somewhat odd to be talking to thin air.

"I'm sure you will," Hermione replied dryly, "Just like you'd be fine during a routine Quidditch match?" She then leaned over and grabbed him by the shoulders and kissing him on the forehead, the soft fabric of the Cloak hardly lessening the warm sensation that ran through her lips as she did so. "For luck."

"Mmmh," Harry's close proximity to her tickled her even through his Cloak. "I seem to recall you giving me a good luck kiss before the game too, didn't turn out so well did it?"

"I suppose you are right," Hermione replied as butterflies flew around her stomach. "Maybe you need more?" she then kissed him on the forehead and once on each cheek. "That better?"

"I do feel _really_ lucky right about now." He whispered. "Hermione, I-"

"Good morning to you Mister Potter!" Madam Pomfrey's voice suddenly rang out, startling both Harry and Hermione, the pair freezing in their current position. "I wasn't expecting you to be up this early. Did you have any trouble sleeping?" she asked, oblivious to Hermione's presence.

Hermione stifled a laugh as she rested her head against Harry's, their foreheads touching, "I'll see you in a bit." She whispered as she carefully stepped back and left Harry in Madam Pomfrey's care.

"So Mister Potter, how are you feeling today? Headaches or similar?" the elderly nurse's voice trailed behind Hermione as she made her way out of the hospital wing doors. Hermione carefully nudged open the doors, opening a small gap large enough for her to slip through and went on her way back towards the Gryffindor tower, evading the few early risers on the way there. She waited at the portrait of the Fat Lady for a group of students to pass through, hoping to sneak in as the door swung open behind them, and finally got her chance when a small group of chatty 1st years hurried through, a little girl with pigtails complaining at the lack of Hogwarts having breakfast in bed services. She hurried through the common room and up the stairs to her dorm, wondering how it was that Harry moved so gracefully while hunched over and covering himself with the Cloak.

_All this hunching over is killing my back,_ Hermione thought as she pushed open the door to her shared door, freezing at the sight of her four roommates plus Ginny, staring intently at her. Hermione's eyes suddenly darted towards her bed, her stomach dropping at the sight of her curtains pulled back, her bed untouched since yesterday.

"Well, well, well," Lavender drawled, "Where have you been young missy? Why weren't you in bed last night?"

"Yes, do tell us what escapades you've been up to." Parvati added in, a serious look on her person ruined by her body shuddering in suppressed laughter. Fay and Clara were sitting nearby, their faces also masked by mock seriousness. The only person who did seem genuinely serious was Ginny, her voice sounding how she looked.

"We know you're there Hermione. So where were you?" she asked, her eyes somehow locking on Hermione's, even under the Invisibility Cloak.

Hermione closed the door behind her before lowering the Cloak, her face then upper body appearing as she shrugged her shoulders, the Cloak falling into her arms. It was completely irrational, but she was sure that they all knew where she'd spent the night, and even if their assumptions were wrong-she would be money that at least Parvati thought that "something" had happened-she felt a bit embarrassed and ashamed. Ashamed because she was still a Prefect, and sneaking off to spend a night with a boy, even if it was entirely innocent, was behavior that no serious Prefect would condone, let alone actually do. Embarrassed because her friends, and she was starting to think of her roommates as friends, had caught her in a rather compromising situation. She was sure her blush and her own smile wasn't helping make the entire situation seem as innocent as it really is, but she couldn't help be feel giddy. Giddy because of her friends' teasing grins, giddy because of her feelings for Harry, giddy because she'd kissed him several times today, giddy because she was sure she was in love with her best friend and sure that he liked her back. She sheepishly looked over to her roommates and saw their teasing faces and felt a surge of warmth in her cheeks.

She didn't miss Ginny's look or the slight scowl on her face. Hermione paid it no attention however, if Ginny was mad about something she wouldn't let that put a damper on her good mood.

"Well I suppose Ginny told you about Harry's Cloak?" Hermione asked with a glare towards the young red-head, slightly offended that she'd talked about Harry's secret possession.

"Yes she did," Parvati replied dismissively as Ginny slightly lowered her head, seemingly realizing her mistake, "So, Hermione? Got anything to share?"

"Not really," Hermione replied nonchalantly, aware of the expectant looks on the faces of the five other girls. She knew that her friends would tease her endlessly no matter if they found out now or later, she sighed and decided to get the situation over with. "Alright, but not a word of this to _anyone_ you understand?" Hermione asked, "I'm a Prefect and I'm already on shaky ground with Professor McGonagall as it is."

"Yes yes!" Lavender replied while Parvati nodded vigorously, "We won't tell, Gryffindor Girl's Honor!" At that Hermione's roommates took out their wands and cast the well-known "Girl's Promise" charm, a tame version of the Wizard's Oath used in the magical world that had been developed long ago by a unknown female student to make small, frivolous promises. A pinky promise, spitting on a handshake, swearing on your mother's back, crossing your fingers and hoping to die. Breaking the Girl's Promise mean that the breaker of the promise would suffer a rash of bad acne for about a month. Hermione would never admit to the fact that her famous D.A. coins had been inspired by the Girl's Promise. She'd also never admit that such a silly show of friendship on the part of the four girls made her feel great.

"Ok," Hermione made a show of hesitating before continuing, though in truth everyone knew she was just playing up the moment. "Well, I spent the night with Harry-" Hermione scoffed at the looks on the faces of the girls, "Get your minds out of the gutter, I'm not that type of girl and Harry is certainly not that type of boy."

"So what'd you do then," Ginny asked, "You were with him the whole night then?"

"Yes I was Ginny," Hermione replied as she moved towards her bed and started picking out her clothing for the day, "What of it?" she asked with a bit of a confrontational tone, a small voice in her mind telling her that she knew what this was about.

"Doing what?" Ginny asked, the four other girls chatting excitedly amongst each other.

"Nothing, I just hid under his Invisibility Cloak and sat next to him throughout the night, I was just there to comfort him."

"Comfort him indeed," Parvati said while waggling her eyebrows. "How many times did you _comfort_ him?" she asked, her love of adult humor showing.

"Like I said Parvati," Hermione replied with a blushing face, "Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm not that type of girl. I simply sat next to him, made sure he was comfortable and was there in case he woke up and needed something."

"Throughout the whole night?" Fay asked from her spot next to Clara, the two enjoying their inclusion in the conversation immensely, "You just sat there and looked after him? I don't think I could do that."

"Love fueled Hermione's midnight vigil," Lavender sighed dramatically as she made a show of clasping her hands over her heart, earning laughter and giggles from the other girls save Hermione and Ginny. The young red-head simply turned and looked at Hermione, eyes narrowed and a look of disapproval on her features before quickly exiting the room, the door slamming behind her silencing the girls in the room.

Clara suddenly spoke up, "What's her problem?"

"We all know what her problem is," Lavender answered as she turned to look at the resident bookworm., "Don't we?"

"Yes we do." Hermione replied as she stared at the door, "But she'll have to deal with that on her own, because I'm not giving him up. Now," she said as she tried to turn the conversation away from Ginny, "If you'll excuse me, I've got to shower and head back down to the hospital wing, Harry's waiting for me."

Hermione headed into the shared bathroom and, after a quick answer to nature's call, began undressing after she'd started got the shower running. She paused momentarily as she started at herself in her bra and knickers, regarding her image in the full body mirror Lavender had placed in their bathroom. She'd often felt self-conscious when she regarded herself, or she'd compare herself to some of the curvier girls in Hogwarts, recently she'd compared herself to Lavender, and found herself lacking the body type that drew men's stares. She didn't have a chest that made boys stare, she didn't have curvy hips that swayed when she walked, she didn't have the type of beautiful face that made boys stare at her. She'd giver herself credit however, she had nice hair, she had nice skin, she could be considered pretty, but she'd never be beautiful, never make men drool like they did when they saw Lavender or some of the other girls about the campus. This time she was spared any feelings of sadness, she thought about Harry, how he'd been acting around her recently, what Luna had said about his feelings towards her, and _felt_ pretty. Even though she might have wished otherwise, she knew physical attraction was a vital part of fancying someone and she now knew that Harry fancied her therefore she _obviously_ she had something going for her that Harry found attractive. She looked at herself and idly wondered what it was, did he like her legs? Her hair? Her lips? Her chest? She felt herself heating up as she considered that and finally noticed the mirror fogging up as someone started pounding on the bathroom door.

"Hermione don't leave the bath running! Take your shower already!"

Hermione rolled her eyes at Fay's comments, of the four girls she was always on everyone's back about leaving the water running. She stripped off her underwear, gathered her shampoo and soap and went off to her quick shower.

She came back out a few minutes later, two charmed hairbrushes moving of their own accord as they tried to tame her hair.

"Hermione," Parvati called out to her as she re-entered her dorm, "Professor McGonagall is outside waiting for you," she said in a worried tone.

"I see," Hermione said, stopping in her tracks, internally realizing that this was inevitable. "Thanks for telling me Parvati."

"Sure." The dark skinned girl replied, "Good luck."

Hermione nodded and quickly made her way out towards the common room where a couple of the Gryffindors gave her sympathetic looks and encouraging nods. Hermione took a deep breath as she neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, and grit her teeth as she swung the portal open and stepped through the archway and came face to face with a very stern-looking Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Granger," she began while her eyes bored into Hermione's, "A word, in my office." She said in a tone that brokered no argument before turning around and starting to head towards her office. Hermione hesitated behind her, worried about Harry being stuck in the hospital wing.

_Professor McGonagall calls me into her office and the first thing I think about is Harry._

Hermione sighed and followed the Headmistress, silently walking behind her as they both made their way to her office. Even though the Headmistress's office was next to the Gryffindor tower, the offices of the Heads of House were always near the common room of their House, the walk down a few halls felt much longer than it actually was due to nervousness and fear that was currently coursing through Hermione's body.. They finally reached Professor McGonagall's office and silently sat down, the Headmistress looking quiet angry.

"Miss Granger, you obviously know why you are here." It wasn't a question, though Hermione felt the need to nod in the affirmative. "Miss Granger I hope you don't think that my delayed action in this matter is a sign of good news, you know that I will _not_ tolerate fights between fellow Gryffindors and you broke Mister McLaggen's nose yesterday. It was only because Madam Pomfrey was pre-occupied with Mister Potter and because Mister McLaggen's injury could easily be fixed by the Episkey spell that he wasn't moved to the hospital wing, and it was actually due to Headmaster Dumbledore's insistence that I waited a full day before I talked to you."

Hermione made to speak before she was silenced by Professor McGonagall raising her hand.

"Miss Granger, you are a Prefect and I expect better of my Prefects and frankly I expect more from you." Hermione wilted in her seat. "Now, as for your punishment, 100 points from Gryffindor," Hermione gasped at the massive point loss and at the knowledge that she had caused it, "And furthermore Miss Granger, _all_ your Hogsmeade privileges will be revoked for the remainder of the school year."

Hermione suddenly stood up, all of her plans with Harry going out the window, Professor McGonagall stood to meet her as soon as she did however, her mouth a thin line. "Do you have something to say to that Miss Granger? May I remind you that I had previously discussed recent disciplinary behavior with you before, furthermore you are getting of lightly! Any other Prefect would immediately lose their Prefect status had they assaulted a fellow house member like you did and it is only due to Headmaster Dumbledore's insistence that I "cool off" before I made any rash decisions and your previously exemplary record that I am not revoking your status. Now," she said as she sat back down in her chair, "you are excused."

Hermione quickly got up and left, unable to speak a single word due to her embarrassment and shame. She stood outside the door to the Headmistress's office, the realization that she wouldn't be having any dates with Harry at Hogsmeade and beyond that the knowledge that she had come this close to losing her Prefect status and had deeply disappointed Professor McGonagall with her recent behavior. All of it felt like a heavy weight on Hermione's shoulders, she found it hard to breathe, she felt terrible and came close to crying. A small sob managed to choke its way out of her throat, one she quickly covered up with her hands.

_Harry's waiting for me,_ she reminded herself as she gathered her wits about her. _I'll find some way to deal with this later._

Hermione made her way back towards the hospital wing, constantly pushing down thoughts of her punishment back into the small corners of her mind. She'd finally made it back to the hospital wing, shaking her head to clear away all her thoughts as she refocused her mind on Harry. She pushed through the hospital wing doors and smiled at Madam Pomfrey as she passed her desk, her stride faltering slightly as she saw both Luna and Ginny by Harry's cot.

"Good morning Hermione," Luna commented as she followed Harry's gaze, who seemed to be silently pleading with Hermione to come to his rescue.

"Good morning Luna," Hermione replied, "Ginny." She added at the younger red-head. "So what are you two doing here?"

"I decided that Harry would like to be woken up with some breakfast in bed," Ginny replied with a tone that set Hermione on edge as she pointed to the plate of treacle tart that rested on Harry's lap. "After that injury yesterday I thought he'd appreciate a good wake up call."

"Yes thank Gi-"

"But I think Harry already had a nice wake up call," Luna interrupted as she sat on Harry's cot, her bare feet swinging lazily back and forth before she turned around to look at Harry, Hermione catching a very quick glance in her direction. "Did you?" Luna asked sweetly.

Harry looked over to Hermione and smiled. "Yes I did Luna."

Hermione flushed pink as Harry continued to lock his gaze with hers, the entire exchange not going unnoticed by Ginny, who was about to speak again before Luna interrupted her.

"Oh Ginny, can you go help me find my shoes?" she asked as she wiggled her toes. "Nargles must have taken them."

"I'm sure the Nargles will turn them up." Ginny replied testily as she reached a spoon full of treacle tart to Harry's mouth. "I'm going to stay here with Harry an-"

"Oh wait you can't," Luna replied, her large dreamy eyes momentarily gaining a mischievous glint, "Dean is waiting for you in the Great Hall."

Ginny froze before casting Luna a dirty glare that caused Hermione to wonder just how Luna seemed to keep her dreamy face with the red-head directing so much frustration at her. "He is." She stated as she subtly clenched her lower jaw. "Well I'm off then," she said before turning back to Harry and giving him a hug that lasted a bit too long for Hermione's liking. "Bye Harry, I'll be back later." With that she left the room.

"Well that was rude," Luna commented as she examined one of her feet, her toes wiggling in the air. "She didn't say bye."

"Mmh," Hermione agreed, intensely aware that Ginny was acting jealous. She bit her lip in concentration, _Ginny's with Dean, she's never acted like his before_. _No, not true, she was jealous when he went with Parvati to the Yule Ball, and when he was smitten with Cho. _Hermione sighed, Ginny would usually get jealous of Harry's current romantic interests and this wasn't anything new.

"Hermione," Harry's voice brought her out of her musing, "You aren't going to eat anything?"

"Oh!" Luna suddenly gasped as she jumped off of Harry's cot. "I'll go get you two something to eat. Harry, toast, eggs, bacon and apple juice?" she asked, Hermione suddenly wondering just why she knew his favorite breakfast food.

"Yes thank you. And blueberry pancakes topped with honey with a side of milk too, if you could." Harry added, Luna tilting he head at him in confusion. "For Hermione," Harry answered, "it's her favorite."

Luna nodded happily before skipping away, her blonde hair flowing behind her.

"That's nice of you Harry, but you didn't need to." Hermione beamed down at him as she pulled up a chair next to his cot.

"Well, all I did was ask Luna to bring you something, it's up to her to actually bring it to you, so you should thank her." Harry replied.

"I'll keep that in mind Harry, so what's the word? When will Madam Pomfrey give you a clean bill of health and release you?"

"Either today in the afternoon or tomorrow morning," Harry replied, "I'm hoping today in the afternoon because if I get released tomorrow in the morning it'll be straight from here to classes and that doesn't sound very enticing."

"No, I suppose it doesn't," Hermione replied, "So that's what Madam Pomfrey says, how do you feel?"

"Well I'm feeling much better now," Harry looked straight at her as his hand surreptitiously moved over to her hand. Hermione saw his hand inch its way towards her and met him halfway as she slipped her hand into his. They both grinned at each other, Hermione's cheeks warming up. "I can think of something that'll make me feel much better though."

"Oh?" Hermione asked, thankful that she was able to keep her voice normal.

"Breakfast!" Luna suddenly interrupted in a singing voice. "Here is your plate Harry and here is yours Hermione."

"Thanks Luna," Harry replied as he immediately started to dig into his plate, his appetite bolstered by a lack of food after his injury.

"Thank you Luna," Hermione said as she was handed her plate, her brows scrunching up in confusion. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"Oh no, that'd take time away from my morning routine," she replied as she walked around the cot to sit next to Harry. "I've only got a window of time from morning to the afternoon to catch sight of a Spriggan."

"A Spriggan?" Hermione asked, internally knowing that this must be another one of Luna's imaginary creatures while also trying to be friendly and show interest in her new friend's hobby. "What is that?"

A surprised smile appeared on Luna's face at Hermione's question, Hermione realizing that the blonde Ravenclaw must have been expecting a scoff of exasperation or a disbelieving eye roll. Harry also gave her hand a squeeze, the gesture reminding her of the pleasant sensations she felt with their hands joined.

"Spriggans are forest creatures, they usually look like women made out of bark and flowers, they are supposed to be the original handmaidens of an old god people used to worship that represented fertility and growth. Now people say that they are the souls of women who loved flowers and gardens and get to live along the plants they loved in life. But I think I saw a baby Spriggan!" Luna said with excitement, "My dad has always theorized that Spriggans grow up just like we do, from a small baby into an adult one! Oh, if I can get a glimpse of that I'd prove his theory right, we could publish it in _The Quibbler!"_

Hermione smiled good-naturedly at the girl's response, even if she didn't believe in these Spriggans she had to acknowledge that Luna's enthusiasm was catchy.

"I've been trying to see a glimpse of the baby for a few months now," she paused as her expression saddened, "but I haven't been lucky."

"They always make like a tree and leaf." Harry quipped, earning a groan from Hermione.

"Oh Harry," she said in a disappointed manner, "that was terrible, though Luna seems to disagree." Hermione looked over to see Luna laughing hysterically.

"Oh Harry, you're _so_ funny!" she said between bouts of laughter. "I wish I could hear more of your jokes today, but I've got to go." She leaned over and gave Harry a strong hug which Harry gladly returned. Hermione looked at the two and instead of becoming jealous or angry at Luna for hugging him much longer than necessary she felt happy that the two of them had become such good friends. She did however feel as if she had to speak up.

"Luna?" she began as the two of them began to break apart, "your hair is, well it's in Harry's food."

Both Harry and Luna looked down, Luna's blonde hair covered in jam from Harry's toast.

"Oh," Luna said, seemingly undisturbed that her hair had globs of jam stuck to it, she brought up some of her strands of hair to her mouth, "Mmmh, strawberry. Well bye Harry, bye Hermione." And with that she was off again, skipping through the hospital wing with jam filled hair.

"Well…" Hermione broke the silence that Luna had left them in. "She's certainly, well. She's Luna."

"Yes she is," Harry said, "and thank you for not making fun of her Spriggans. Or that thing with the jam."

"I won't," Hermione said as she began to take a few bites from her food. "I want to be friends with her too."

"Really?" Harry said as he pulled a long blonde hair from his toast, "Why?"

"Well, she's your friend. You two are close," Hermione noticed Harry slightly stiffen at that, "and if she's going to be your close friend from now on… well she'll be my friend too. Why, is something wrong with that?" she asked, slightly amused at Harry's skittish behavior.

"No, nothing wrong with that, in fact I think it'd be brilliant. She's nice, you'll like her."

"Not as much as you," Hermione after a drink of milk. "_I _certainly won't go and snog her." Luckily she kept her composure as Harry lost his, coughing as a piece of bacon seemed to go down the wrong hole after her comment, she handed him his cup of juice and watched him drink the offending bacon down all the while thinking that she enjoyed teasing Harry, his reactions were so cute.

"Oh that! Hermione I," he began to trip over his own words, "There's nothing going on with me-she-it was a spur of the moment-"

"Harry!" Hermione laughed, "It's fine, really. Luna told me all about your spur of the moment kiss and really, I'm fine with it, I know nothing is going on between you and her. You two are close friends and what's one snog between close friends right?"

Harry gave her a scrutinizing look, wondering if she was in fact ok with his past activities with Luna. Hermione met his gaze and tried to project nothing but acceptance and friendship towards him, nodding when his eyes finally seemed to tell her that he believed her.

"So, you aren't mad?" he asked quietly.

"Why would I be mad Harry?"

They locked gazes again, Harry's eyes telling her that they both knew why she might have been mad. Hermione sighed as she put down her fork and touched his hand again.

"Are you still…?"

"No." he answered quickly.

"Then it's in the past," Hermione replied softly, "and right now it's the present."

Hermione saw Harry sit up straight in his cot, heard him take in a deep breath and saw him sport the look that he always had whenever he was rallying up his courage or determination to do something either immensely brave or incredibly foolish, his hand tightened around hers in a gentle squeeze.

"Well," he said after he cleared his throat. "What if I told you I wanted to snog another close friend? Would you be mad then?"

Hermione's gaze snapped up to his and at the first glimpse of his eyes she knew who he was talking about. Her cheeks warmed up and suddenly her food was competing for space in her stomach with a flutter of butterflies. Her breathing hitched at the thought of snogging Harry. She'd never snogged anyone, she'd only had a brief and friendly kiss with Viktor after the Yule Ball, she'd never even considered herself to be the type of girl to snog _anyone_ and yet here Harry Potter, her best friend and love, was admitting that he wanted to do just that with her. Snog. Her dazed mind had to admit that he'd been much bolder than she thought he could ever be.

"No" she squeaked, her composure lost as she felt her face on fire. "I'm sure your close friend wouldn't mind snogging you. But," she added, "I think your close friend would want to go on a date before you snog her."

"Would she?" Harry whispered.

Hermione nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak again.

"Hermione, wou-"

"Yes." She answered immediately, Harry staring at her before laughing uncontrollably.

Hermione didn't know what to think as she saw him laugh, insecurities sprang up in her mind as she mentally went over the conversation again and wondered if she had completely misread the looks he was giving her. She covered her face in her hands, hoping to keep Harry from seeing her red face. "Harry _please_ tell me we were talking about you and me and _not_ you and some other girl?"

It took Harry a few tries, but he finally answered a loud "yes" in between his laughter.

"Yes you were talking about another girl or yes you were talking about me?" Hermione demanded, annoyed by his vague answer.

"Yes I was talking about you!" Harry laughed.

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione scolded as she began to swat his arm, "Don't you do that to me again! I would have died of embarrassment if you had been talking about another girl!" Her swats did nothing to his good mood however, he continued laughing. "It's not funny Harry! I don't even know if I want to go with you anymore." She made to swat his arm once more for good measure but suddenly felt her arm caught by his hand and found herself pulled towards him as his arms wrapped around her. She could feel his heart beating as her head rested on his chest.

"Hermione," he whispered into her ear, "would you like go on a date with me?"

Hermione nodded into his chest, her voice momentarily failing her. "Yes," she breathed out, "I'd like that very much."

"Great! It's settled then," Harry replied before leaning his head down and kissing her forehead, Hermione somewhat disappointed he didn't simply ignore her previous comments and kiss her there and then.

"Don't think I've forgotten about earlier Potter," Hermione teased through the feelings of warmth and happiness, "I'll get you for that." She swatted his arm, this time playfully.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye on you Granger," Harry teased right back while looking her up and down, "Although I didn't need a threat to keep my eyes on you."

"Harry!" Hermione gasped with wide eyes, "Just where are you getting all these lines from?"

Harry suddenly looked embarrassed, he looked away from her while shrugging his shoulders. "I dunno, maybe I'm making them up as I go? No one said I didn't know how to flirt." He replied with a glance back to her.

"Harry," Hermione folded her arms across her chest, mock glaring at The Boy She Loved And Now Has A Date With.

"Or maybe," Harry replied as he continued to stare at her, Hermione keenly aware that he was admiring her face and hair. "Maybe when I'm with you I just know what to say?"

"Oh Harry, I never knew you had such a vast collection of cheesy pick-up lines." Hermione sighed, smiling at his terrible pick-up lines. _I also never thought you'd be using them on me._

"Well, they are working aren't they?" He asked with a grin.

Hermione huffed, "Well, they are still cheesy, you should get better material."

"I'll work on it Hermione."

A few moments of silence passed between them, their empty breakfast plates stacked on the end table near Harry's cot. Hermione was aware that all they were doing was staring at each other, but what was occupying her thoughts was the way Harry was staring at her. She knew he was a gentleman, terrible cheesy lines aside, but also knew that he was a young hormonal teenage boy. He'd proven that when he was trying to stealthily steal glances at that 7th year Gryffindor, and that time she'd been incensed that he was staring at someone in such a manner, angry that he wasn't staring at her. But now he was staring at her in such a manner and she was pleased. She saw him throw glances at her hair, her eyes and face, saw him look down at their entwined hands and smile. She'd flushed when she caught him looking over at long legs that dangled over the side of his cot and when his eyes were briefly leveled at her chest. She knew he was looking her over, and while she may have been mad with any other boy who would dare do such a thing, with Harry and the appreciative look on his face she felt like she _wanted_ him to look her over. It made her feel pretty to know that the boy she loved couldn't keep his eyes on her face.

She was also aware that she was doing the same to him, she was also quite aware that part of her bum was touching his leg. When they were younger and visiting the Burrow she'd visited Harry and Ron's shared room and talked and laughed, but now the simple act of being in the same bed with him, their bodies touching if only slightly, was framed in a completely different context that made Hermione's head spin. He'd admitted that he wanted to snog her and, now that he had the idea had been planted in her mind too, she now couldn't help but think of another situation where she and Harry would be in a bed together, their eyes roaming each other's bodies before.. Even though she'd always kept herself under control and didn't allow silly flights of fancy, she was suddenly and keenly aware that she was also a hormonal teenage girl.

_Oh Harry, what are you doing to me? Well, snogging and… that'll all be after our first date. I wonder where we'll go- _Hermione suddenly froze as the morning's events suddenly rushed back into her mind. _Oh no._

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, looking up at her with worry. "Was it, I wasn't too obvious was I?" he asked, his body language screaming embarrassment.

"Yes you were," Hermione quipped, "but I didn't mind. No, I just remembered that our date," she looked at him hesitantly, "It'll have to wait."

"Why?" he asked in confusion, Hermione didn't know if he was asking why she didn't mind or why their date would have to wait. She sighed, her shoulders sagging as she prepared to tell him about Professor McGonagall's punishment.

"Professor McGonagall revoked my Hogsmeade privileges for the remainder of the year." She answered quietly.

"What? Why?" Harry sat up immediately, putting his free hand on her shoulder, "What happened?"

"Professor McGonagall was waiting for me outside the Gryffindor common room, she took me over to her office and lectures me. I can't go to Hogsmeade for the rest of the year and she took away 100 points from Gryffindor." She whispered.

"What?" Harry asked in a hoarse whisper, "100 points? No Hogsmeade for the rest of the year?" Hermione nodded, "Isn't she over-reacting? You couldn't have done anything that bad?"

"I broke McLaggen's nose, knocked him out and disobeyed a professor."

Harry pulled back, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. "What? When?"

"Yesterday, after the game. I ran out into the field when I saw you fall." She replied in a shaky voice, the images of Harry's skull split open and pooling blood on the grass and on Luna coming back to her. "Luna got to you first, held your head in her lap and kept pressure on your wound. Madam Hooch took you, along with Luna, to the hospital wing." She paused for a moment as she calmed herself down, it helped immensely that Harry was right next to her, alive and fine. "McLaggen tried blaming it on you, said that if you were a better captain he wouldn't have had to taken Coote's Beater bat, or something, I don't remember exactly. But he blamed it on you and, well I saw red so I popped him one."

"Sounds like it must have been a doozy of a pop," Harry commented dryly, "Broke his nose… how did he get knocked out?"

"It was the same punch Harry." Hermione answered.

"WOW! It was a doozy of a punch then. Although I've always known you had a strong arm."

"Harry, it isn't funny," Hermione snapped, "I came _this_ close to losing my Prefect's status entirely. And now we can't have that date I was so looking forward to."

"No, it isn't funny, sorry Hermione." Harry replied as he drew her into a hug. "So, you were looking forward to our date?"

Hermione nodded, thankful that he'd changed the topic so quickly, truthfully she didn't want to dwell on the matter anymore. "Yes, I was planning on asking you to a date after you'd win the Quidditch game yesterday… you can see how that turned out."

"Yeah," Harry replied as he brought a hand up to his bandaged head. "Sorry for getting cracked by McLaggen and ruining your plans." He said with a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm sorry for knocking McLaggen out and ruining your plans." Hermione whispered back, her cheeks rosy as she kissed Harry on his cheeks. "Can our date wait until school's out? A summer date?"

"Of course," Harry's voice was soft, "I'm not planning on letting you get out of this."

"Ha!" Hermione scoffed into his chest, feeling relaxed in his arms, "Maybe I don't plan on getting myself out?"

"Well, I'll figure something out." Harry whispered as he rested his head atop of hers. "I asked you out, so I've got to set it all up. Don't worry."

"Yes, it's in your hands now Harry," she cuddled up closer to him, kicking her shoes off as she brought herself fully into his embrace, "And I'm feeling pretty confident in your hands."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence Hermione," he chuckled, planting a kiss on her forehead again, Hermione's eyes closing at the gesture. "Not that I want to kick out of here, but do you plan to stay here the entire day? Won't Madam Pomfrey kick you out?"

They both looked up and caught a glimpse of Madam Pomfrey. The elderly nurse had her hands on her hips with a stern look on her face, but her posture quickly softened as she dropped her arms to the side and simply walked away nodding to herself.

"Well, she looks like she's tolerating me on your cot here, though I don't know why." Hermione replied as she rested her head back in Harry's chest. "Besides, there's no rule against staying here all day."

"No, I guess there isn't." Harry replied absentmindedly.

A few peaceful moments passed with the two just resting on the cot, Hermione feeling as if she was sleeping on clouds and sunshine, Harry deep in thought. Just as Hermione felt she was falling asleep in Harry's embrace she heard him mumble something clearly meant for his own ears.

"Huh. I guess there isn't a rule about staying inside all day."

Hermione smiled, she knew something was going on his mind, she knew he was up to something. She didn't even have to look him in the eye to know.

She looked forward to it.


	12. Couch Talk

**AN:** Again, thank you for your reviews and for those who put this on their alerts/favorite lists. So far the response has been good and I hope I can keep it that way. Also, as I type some of this chapter up I'm watching the NASA rover _Curiosity_ do the live landing on Mars. Awesome stuff.

**magitech**- I dunno, it sounds to me like being a Prefect or Head Boy/Girl would be similar to being on some sort of student body committee in real life. Sure, being the student treasurer in high school doesn't give you any benefits, and probably just adds stress and responsibilities… but it's another thing you can add on your résumé.

**trongod-** True… but I figure (or at least this is my explanation in this fanfic world) that other teachers are less likely to let that kinda stuff slide. The movies and books are from Harry's POV, so I guess we just don't see Professor Sprout dock points from some random Slytherin for saying the M word to a muggleborn. And Snape's just there because of Dumbledore, so I think that even if the teachers do think Snape should be removed or something they can't really say anything against Dumbledore.

**erbkaiser-** Thanks for pointing that out, I didn't catch that. I'll change that in a bit.

**I am going to change my screen name. Probably to Ruinus.** This is the screen name I use elsewhere, so I might change it to that. I have no clue what I was thinking when I made my current name.

**I am going to edit the ending of chapter 2**. The ending of ch. 2 stays on Harry and Lavender after Hermione and Ron's fight, which breaks the perspective of the story since (except for ch. 1) the entire story is from Hermione's POV.

* * *

**Couch Talk**

Hermione huffed as she closed her dormitory door, the thrum of the common room being drowned out behind her. She looked over and nodded at Lavender, who was painting her nails, and Parvati, who was preparing for her nighttime astronomy class. Over on her bed Clara was sleeping peacefully, which caused Hermione to arc an eyebrow in curiosity. Lavender caught her curious gaze and fielded Hermione's mental question.

"You know how she gets when she eats something that doesn't agree with her," Lavender said with a hint of amusement, "Said she felt a bit ill and wanted to sleep it off."

"She gets sick whenever she eats something new," Hermione replied as she shook her head, "And yet she always goes off and decides to try a new dish or drink." She admonished.

"I'm just jealous of her figure," Lavender replied, "she can eat anything she wants and always still so slim. I wish I had that blessing." She sighed and went back to her nails.

"And where's Fay?" Hermione asked as she made her way towards her bed, her notes and book cradled lovingly in her arms.

"Oh, she went down to see the Quidditch practice," Lavender replied without looking up, her face a look of pure concentration as she applied her favorite nail polish to her small toe. "Apparently she went to go cheer for Ron just to spite McLaggen who's going to be passing by the Quidditch field on his Walk of Shame."

Parvati, who had been silently reviewing her own textbook, looked up and gave Hermione an apologetic look, "It's too bad he couldn't be punished more," she said before adding in a fowl tone, "He really is a tosser, I can't believe I ever fancied him."

Hermione offered a small smile in return, knowing that Parvati felt particularly bad about the entire fiasco because she had harbored a crush on McLaggen, but more than that she was expressing the general feeling of the school. The day she had visited Harry in the hospital wing she had been called away for an impromptu meeting in the Great Hall and though she was loathe to leave Harry even for a minute she wanted to make sure McLaggen was punished for his actions. She remembered the outrage the Gryffindors felt when Professor McGonagall and a few members of the staff had announced that McLaggen would not be expelled from Hogwarts. Hermione, and a few others including Luna and Madam Pomfrey, had adamantly argued that because Harry's injuries could have been life threatening had Luna and Madam Hooch acted so swiftly McLaggen deserved to be expelled. The staff countered back that while they understood the gravity of Harry's injuries, McLaggen's actions did not break _any_ school rules, at best he only broke the Quidditch Sportsmanship Rules, which no one is under any actual obligation to follow, and that expulsion could not be handed out for Quidditch infractions.

"And why not?" Parvati asked, as a few of the other Gryffindors wondered the same. "Everyone heard that ball hit Harry's head and saw him fall off his broom. The sounds alone didn't sound anything pleasant and McLaggen is just going to get away with that?" The Gryffindors, and even a few members of other houses agreed, Hermione flashing Parvati a thankful smile.

"Because Miss Patil," Madam Hooch started, "When students were officially accepted into a Quidditch team they signed a waiver, didn't you?" she looked over at the students she knew to be in a Quidditch team, several of them looking as if they barely remembered that form. "In it is stated quite clearly that _"A Quidditch player accepts the possibility," _some would say inevitability," Madam Hooch added in her own words, "_of injury when on an active playing field. By signing this form and setting foot upon an active Quidditch field a Quidditch player waives all rights to seek compensation for bodily harm caused during the duration of an active game." _In other words," Madam Hooch went on, "The _only_ way a student could be expelled because of Quidditch is if it is shown that he injured another player on purpose and _not_ through an accident… even _if_ that accident was caused by unsportsmanlike behavior." She then went on to remind everyone that Quidditch players were flying at heights that sometimes reached 30 meters, attained speeds in excess of 9 meters per second and being chased by large iron Bludgers that moved just as quickly and could break arms, legs or ribs just as easily as a Bone Breaker Hex, and that the entire point of the Beater was to aim those Bludgers at the opposing team. Injuries were _guaranteed_ in Quidditch, she then pointed out that there had not been a single Hogwarts game, perhaps no single Quidditch game period, that had resulted in zero injuries. "Quidditch could not exist in schools if players were expelled every time someone was injured."

Professor McGonagall stepped in and said that an expulsion was completely out of the question; she reminded everyone that an expulsion didn't simply mean the student would be kicked from Hogwarts, but that the expelled student also had their wand snapped and could _never_ practice magic again. Expulsion was only an option when a student was shown to have actively planned and carried out actions that grievously harmed fellow students or were convicted of a crime. McLaggen, she pointed out, fit neither criteria. It was a testament to how strongly the Gryffindors felt about the matter that Professor McGonagall truly feared for the first time in her professional career that an all-out riot would break out in Gryffindor. Madam Hooch quickly stepped in and declared that because of McLaggen's complete disregard for the Quidditch Sportsmanship Rules and his lack of any sort of formal apology towards the Gryffindor team and Harry in particular, that she'd revoke his Quidditch privileges for the remainder of his stay at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall saw her lions slightly ease at this declaration and added her own ruling; she'd give Gryffindor the chance to vote on a student mandated suspension for McLaggen, something that was only allowed when a House felt completely uncomfortable with a fellow House member.

As soon as Professor McGonagall had passed out the form Hermione was surprised to see it handed immediately to her, catching on to the intentions of her fellow House-mates she signed it at the top of the signature list in big bold letters. When the entire Gryffindor house, and even a few members of the other Houses, had signed the form it was handed back to Hermione when someone quipped that she should sign it twice because "you're twice as angry as the rest of the school combined."

So she'd signed it twice.

She shook thoughts of McLaggen's suspension from her mind as she focused on her notes on the size restrictions of Transfiguration and Heckleden's Law of Size.

_Heckleden proposed that an object cannot be transfigured into an object of greater size only one of- oh Harry._

She paused and smiled at a small flower that had been drawn in the margins by Harry, probably when he'd asked to look over her notes near the end of class. She looked and admired the small flower and chuckled at his terrible chicken scratch. _He'll never be Ambrosius Bosschaert but I love it all the same._ She drew her wand and cast a cutting spell around the flower, taking the small cutout and placing it in a drawer on her bedside end table along with two previous flowers Harry had drawn for her. _He's actually getting better! _Hermione mused as she compared the previous attempts to the current one.

Harry had been wonderful. Hermione felt that it was his way of making up the fact that she couldn't visit Hogsmeade. Of course he was still Harry, Harry who was clueless about girls and had never been in a relationship before. That experience in the hospital wing aside he wasn't a Casanova, but Hermione didn't expect him to be, all she expected him to be was the same sweet, brave, caring best friend that she'd fallen in love with. And he was. He'd open doors for her, pull chairs out for in the classes they shared together, offered to carry her books and would give her a hand whenever she wanted to stand up. He was brilliant. Hermione could tell that he was really trying to impress her or to act like the perfect boyfriend; she'd once overheard him ask Luna how she thought a proper boyfriend would act.

"I can't ask Ron can I?" Harry admitted. Though the three of them had begun to patch up their friendship, much to Harry's delight, they both still felt somewhat awkward being open about their almost-relationship around him. "And, I guess Neville's alright but I don't think he has any more experience than I do. But if I asked Dean or Seamus for advice on… well, you know, how I should act they'd probably suggest things I'm not brave enough to try. Inappropriate things I mean."

"Oh?" Hermione had replied, slightly amused at his response. "Inappropriate how?"

Harry stammered and blushed as he tried to keep his eyes on her face. The fact that he went out of his way to avoid looking at her body told her just what kind of advice he'd receive from Dean or Seamus.

"Well," he began as he fought down a blush, "things a boy would do with, well, no real way to say it. A cheap girl."

"A cheap girl?" Hermione asked, struggling to suppress a laugh at his choice of words.

"Yeah. A loose girl." He replied before slowly taking her hand in his and bringing it up to her hand. "And I think you deserve better than the things they'd suggest." He finished with a quick butterfly kiss to her hand.

_Occasionally he was a Casanova._

At the same time he still had much to learn and had his flaws. He was still moody, he'd get upset that no one else seemed to agree with him that "Malfoy was up to something," she'd even disagreed with him when he set both Dobby and Kreacher to follow him throughout the school. In the end she'd agreed that Malfoy's lack of taunts and jibes was somewhat unusual but didn't merit having two House Elves tail him throughout the school. On the relationship front they'd still occasionally give each other their "good luck" kisses on the cheek, though they'd both be hard pressed to actually say what they good luck was for, and would hug like they usually did, long embraces that sometimes lasted entire conversations, but he hadn't taken that step towards hand-holding yet or more intimate acts such as cuddling on the common room sofa. Hermione wasn't sure why this was but didn't feel the need to push him on the matter, perhaps he simply thought that holding hands was something you only did with a girlfriend rather than best friend that may be a girlfriend? _Of course,_ she thought, _Perhaps this is all me. I'm in love with him and ready to be more but I don't know where Harry is with his feelings._ Maybe she expected him to cuddle, to put his arm around her waist, to play with her hair and hold her hand because she was ready to do that with him. She was further ahead in the relationship so to say. _If so I'll need to be careful._ She didn't want to rush him or push him beyond his comfort zone, she'd let him set the pace of the relationship for the moment.

She sat on her bed and threw a quick look at her dorm mates, thankful that so far none of them were as curious about her budding relationship with Harry as the rest of the school seemed to be, she figured that they were interested but were waiting for her to say something first. She sighed as she scribbled in her notes, it was only Wednesday and in the three short days since that wonderful day in the hospital wing the whole school seemed to be buzzing with rumors as to why the two were acting different. No one, besides Ron and Luna, actually knew that she had been asked and accepted a date from Harry. They'd both kept mum about the entire thing since there wasn't much to say-yes they had agreed to go on a date, no they weren't dating, no they weren't a couple, no they certainly didn't snog on Harry's cot in the hospital wing. She continued to think about Harry before Lavender startled her back into reality.

"First time I see you struggling to study Hermione," Lavender quipped as she wiggled her toes and blew on them in an effort to dry her nails faster.

Hermione looked down at her notes and realized she'd been sitting for almost five minutes and she'd only read a single line in her notes, and that was being generous considering she'd stopped halfway to admire Harry's flower drawing. "I'm just thinking about Harry."

Lavender's eyebrows rose as she glanced over at Parvati who looked up from her Astronomy textbook when she heard Hermione speak again. The shared look told Hermione that the two were dying to ask her more but were barely holding themselves back. "Oh," Lavender finally said. "That sounds nice."

Hermione bit her lip as she looked down at her notes, completely aware that she wouldn't be able to study with her thoughts about Harry buzzing around her head. "Lavender, Parvati, could I have a moment of your time to talk about something?"

The two girls shared a glance and suddenly Parvati seemed to have enough of studying, slammed her book shut and jumped off her bed to sit on the floor in the middle of the room. Lavender had to move slower, sliding off of her bed and making a ridiculous scooting motion as she tried to keep her feet level so as to not disturb her finely applied nail polish. Hermione laughed at her friend's antics before slowly leaving her bed and sitting cross legged on the floor with the two. The sitting arrangements were new to Hermione, she'd never sat on the floor with anyone to _talk_, she'd had to make do with sitting on the floor while working on the Polyjuice potion in 2nd year in the abandoned girl's lavatory, but the importance of the situation required such measures. Here she was just sitting on the floor with two other girls, the fluffy pink rug Lavender had brought from home to decorate the common room keeping them from the cold floor, Lavender's nail polish wafting over them and Parvati hugging her pillow to her chest in excitement. And why? So Hermione could talk about a boy.

"Well, I don't know how to say this… maybe I already have an idea but I just want some input into the situation," Hermione began with some uncertainty. "Well, first of all I want this to stay with us, don't tell anyone outside of this room. No," she began as Parvati reached for Lavender and her wands, "you don't need to swear that oath of yours, I trust you two. Fay and Clara too, so you can tell them later if you want."

"We won't tell anyone anything you don't want us to say." Lavender said while Parvati nodded. "It'll stay between us. So tell us, spill, what is it?"

Hermione smiled at the two; evidentially they were just as eager as the rest of the school. "Thank you." She said sweetly before wondering how to start. "Well, I suppose I should just get to the heart of the matter. On Sunday Harry asked me if I'd like to go on a date with him and I accepted." She finished with a blush, just the simple act of voicing out loud that she and Harry were planning a date, a romantic outing and not a simple meeting of two friends, made her feel lightheaded. Lavender and Parvati squealed in delight before reaching over and pulling her into a bone-crushing hug which took Hermione by surprise.

"Yes!" Lavender squealed, "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Didn't I tell you Parvati?" she began in excitement, "I told you this would happen, I knew it would!"

Parvati was just as ecstatic, her mouth running a mile a minute as she bombarded Hermione with questions, "Congratulations! I thought I saw something different between you two! How'd he ask you? Where are you going? When? Are you going to kiss him at the end? What do you plan to wear? Is it going to be a fancy date or casual?"

Hermione smiled at their enthusiasm, it felt good to share the news with her two friends and the excited chatter and large smiles told her that they were genuinely happy for her. She waited a moment as she saw them both calm themselves down before breaking the bad news to them.

"Actually, it won't be happening for a while, for quite a while."

Parvati's face well, it seemed as if she was the one who wouldn't be having a date. "What? Why not?" she asked while Lavender looked on in interest.

"Well," Hermione began, "Do you two remember when Harry was hit by McLaggen?" Her two friends looked at her with an expression that told her she had just asked a stupid question and neither could believe it. "Right," she said, suddenly feeling very silly _of course they'd remember, it was only this weekend._ "Well, I didn't get away with it. Not really." She proceeded to tell the two about her Hogsmeade privileges being revoked for the entirety of the year and the massive point loss for Gryffindor.

"What?" Lavender shrieked, startling Clara out of her sleep.

"What the blo-I mean, what's going on?" Clara asked as she caught herself mid curse, stretching and yawning as she sat up in her bed, her hair messy.

Lavender and Parvati looked over at Hermione, wondering if it was ok to continue with the conversation. Hermione simply nodded at the two. "She's my friend too," she mouthed at the two before turning to the waking beauty. "come over here and I'll tell you." A minute later Hermione had finished re-telling Clara about Harry, their date and about her punishment from McGonagall.

"What?" Clara asked, mimicking Parvati's earlier outburst. "She can't do that can she?"

"She can," Hermione answered, "I've thought it over, and I got off lucky." She saw the incredulous looks on her friend's faces. "She reminded me that the penalty for a Prefect caught fighting with students is the complete loss of Prefect status and since technically McLaggen broke no school rules and therefore I was in the wrong to knock him out, even if he did deserve it." Hermione sighed, "I was justified from an emotional standpoint, anyone would have done the same had they seen someone they lo-like down and bloodied like that with the… aggressor still awake and blaming the entire thing on the victim." Hermione suddenly caught herself switching into completely unnecessarily complex words in an effort to shift focus away from her momentary slip up. She hoped none of the girls noticed but realized she was out of luck when she saw Lavender giving her a secret smile. Parvati also seemed to have noticed if the gleam in her eye was any indication. "Anyway," she fumbled back into her normal conversational tone, "Can you imagine what would have happened had she done that? The whole school would have known that I was no longer a Prefect! Slytherin would never let me live that down and frankly I don't need that added stress with this year being so important, N.E.W.T.s are coming up!"

"A year from now!" Parvati cried.

"Sixth year serves as a foundation for seventh!" Hermione countered back, "Back to the original topic," she went on, "by making my punishment secret no one knows and therefore no one can tease me about it. Even more importantly no one can make fun of Harry because his girlfriend lost her Prefect status."

Suddenly the room was filled with three sharp intakes of breath.

Hermione suddenly found herself the recipient of a group hug that threatened to crush her ribs, squeals of excitement nearly causing her eardrums to explode. Her three friends were talking to each other excitedly as they talked about their relationship. The excitement was quickly cut down when Hermione interrupted.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." She said as the girl's chatter died down. "Harry and I haven't talked about what we are."

"What do you mean what you are? You're boyfriend and girlfriend aren't you?" Clara asked slowly, looking at the other two girls for support.

"Are we?" Hermione asked, "Harry doesn't seem to think so."

"Because he hasn't been making any moves." Lavender finished for Hermione, she didn't need to wait for an answer when Hermione lowered her head in an effort to hide her blush. "And because he hasn't been making any sort of move…"

"I don't know where that leaves us." Hermione finished. "Maybe I missed something, but my understanding of relationships is that you are not a couple until you've gone through the dating phase, and you are not past the dating phase until you've had at least a few dates. Harry's asked me on a date and I happily agreed so it goes without saying that we do fancy each other-"

"Dating phase?" Parvati asked with a look of disgust, "Where did you- are you reading about relationships in some book?"

"It's a _very_ informative book and no! I don't get _all_ my information about relationships from books. I ask my mother through the letters I send back home. But this is something I'm not quite sure I can talk to my mother about…"

"Because you don't want your mother to know you want Harry to hold your hand, spoon you on the common room couch and kiss you?" Clara asked with a grin.

"Y-yes, that's quite on the mark. It was embarrassing enough to talk to her about Harry over the winter break." Hermione blushed, "But we are going off topic. Harry and I are going on a date, that is certain, he asked and I happily agreed but in the meantime how should I act around him? These past few days I've been…" she paused and bit her lip, looking at her friends for support. They all simple smiled and waited for her to continue, no hurrying looks on their faces. "It's a bit silly isn't it? For two people who've basically admitted to each other that they fancy each other being so awkward around each other? To act like nothing's changed? I still feel like we are where we were last week."

"Has Harry done anything different?" Parvati asked after a while, "I thought I'd noticed him holding open doors for you and picking up books? He didn't use to do that before did he?"

"I've seen that too. And you two aren't exactly frigid with each other," Clara added, "I see you two hug and look into each other's eyes all the time, it's very sweet."

"Yes, I've noticed that too." Lavender added, "And it definitely seems as though you've been more lovey around each other."

"Well yes," Hermione admitted, "but, I guess I expected, oh I don't know what I expected!"

"It's alright," Lavender said as she put a hand on the bookworm's shoulder. "You've never been in a relationship before have you? Maybe you are expecting too much?" she asked, "Maybe Harry is.." she looked over to Parvati while she searched for her words, "Maybe Harry likes to take things slow? He's never been in a relationship either so this is all new to him too."

"Yes," Parvati continued, "Harry's been on what? One date in his entire life? And from what we've heard through the grapevine that date was cut short when he bailed on Cho Chang in fifth year. Maybe he's just as clueless as you are!" she added with a teasing smile which Hermione appreciated greatly.

"Or if he's not clueless what if he's just a more old-fashioned type of guy and thinks hand holding would be inappropriate right now?" Clara suggested, "Let's be honest here, a lot of girls at Hogwarts would jump Harry's bones in a second, oh you all know they would!" she added at the three girl's faces. "You all know you would, I've heard you two," she pointed at Parvati and Lavender, "gossip a few times about him and I'll be honest, he gets me a bit hot when he's in his Quidditch uniform, but!" she held up a hand to stop Hermione from ranting, "Not only does Harry have our book devouring friend here, but he never threw around his fame to get into girls knickers did he? So maybe Harry is just an old romantic and wants to do everything the proper way."

Hermione paused at that, it was true that Harry could have used his fame to catch a date with any girl in Hogwarts but that simply wasn't him, he'd never stoop so low as to use his fame, which he hated, to date random girls. In fact both of his dates had been earned purely on his own merit and while the date with Cho was cut short, though purely because she asked him to leave, his date with Luna had been…

"He kissed Luna on their first date." Hermione said in a low tone, Parvati and Clara's eyes bugged out in surprise. "You two know that he took Luna Lovegood to Slughorn's party?" she directed her question at the two friends, knowing Lavender was already privy to this information. "Well he kissed her that night and that was the first date, so why hasn't he kissed me?"

"She was telling the truth?" Clara asked, evidentially some of the witches in Hogwarts having thought Luna had lied during her commentary in the Quidditch match.

"Hermione calm down," Lavender said, "Look, ok, so he kissed Loony on their first date and he hasn't done anything with you, if you are so worried about this why don't you ask him? Don't make this harder than it needs to be, he's your Harry, he'll talk to you." Lavender went on, "But let's be honest here Hermione, it's been three days since he asked you out, aren't you being a bit rushed here? Seeing problems where there aren't any?"

Hermione nodded, she had to admit that she was expecting Harry to change within such a short time span and she was new to this so perhaps she was seeing mountains where there were only pebbles.

"Oh no!" Parvati suddenly exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet and ran towards her bed, "I'm going to be late for Astronomy! I've got to go right now if I want to make it!" she fumbled with one of her books as she ran towards the door through which Fay suddenly jumped through and crashed into Parvati.

"Oh are you alright?" Hermione stood up and went to the two girls, Clara and Lavender helping their best friends stand up and brush themselves off. "Fay, what have we told you about suddenly jumping in that way? We've told you several times that you're bound to hit someone and now you did! What are you doing running up here so fa-"

"Loony and Ginny!" Fay panted, "They're all over Harry… thought you should know…"

Hermione stormed out of the common room, Lavender following hot on her heels as she asked her to slow down. Hermione wasn't even sure what she was doing or if she had any sort of reason to storm down to the Quidditch pitch to confront Ginny, since she was sure Luna's intentions were completely honest, but Ginny. _What is she playing at? _

Hermione heard Lavender panting to catch up with her and slowed down, though only slightly, so that she could walk side by side with her unlikely friend.

"You know I would have never figured I'd be here," Lavender said as she caught up to Hermione, "Being friends with the bossy know-it-all Gryffindor bookworm Hermione Jean Granger, walking alongside her as she goes to chase some girls off of her man, Harry James Potter." Hermione turned around as Lavender suddenly gasped in surprise, "Your initial are the same!" she squealed and hugged Hermione, ignoring the odds looks they were getting from a few passersby.

"No they aren't Lavender, HJG and HJP, there's a pretty big difference between the G and the P at the ends." Hermione replied as she continued towards the Quidditch field.

"No, they aren't now," Lavender replied beside her with a giant smile, "But when you get married you'll both be HJP! Do you know what this means?"

"No." Hermione replied, the idea of marriage giving her a spring in her step that wasn't there before.

"It's like you were meant to be together!" Lavender squealed again, "In Divination when two people have-"

"Please Lavender, I don't believe in Divination." Hermione scoffed, her well-known disdain for the muddy subject showing. "Let's focus on the here and now and not a possible future. No matter how pleasant that future sounds." She added under her breath. Now that Lavender pointed it out she realized that if she would be so lucky to become _the_ Mrs. Potter they would share the same initials. _Maybe we could sign our letters with HJP__2__, complete with the squared symbol, although I doubt many wizards would understand the joke. _"Lavender, enough nonsense! Let's deal with this, whatever it is that is happening right now and maybe, _maybe,_ later on I'll hear your Divination theories about how Harry and I are written in the stars."

"I never said anything about you two written in the stars that was all you." Lavender teased, laughing as Hermione promptly shut up.

Hermione and Lavender continued to walk in silence, passing by several people who found it odd to see the school bimbo and the school's smartest student walking side by side. Hermione felt an odd sensation pass through her as she realized that it just wasn't Lavender that they were judging, but her too. Once, when her friendship with Lavender was still new, she'd thought that people were looking at Lavender because they couldn't believe that she could be friends, genuine friends, with someone like Lavender. But now, now that she knew Lavender was a smart girl in her own right, she realized that they also didn't believe that a girl like Hermione, a plain looking book loving shut-in could be friends with the social flower Lavender. Both rumors were rather unflattering to each girl, one banked on Hermione being too socially awkward to make any "cool" friends and the other banked on Lavender being too stupid to make any "smart" friends.

"Thanks for coming with me Lavender." Hermione suddenly whispered.

"Oh sure," Lavender replied back, "Let's go get rid of those hussies. Look, there they are now." She said in a growl.

Sure enough Hermione's eyes narrowed on Harry… who was currently giving Luna a piggy-back ride. The blonde was covering Harry's vision with one of her hands and pointing ahead with the other, wand in hand, like a pirate pointing into the sea with a sword in hand. Ginny was at his side, scowling and trying to push him back into the direction of the Quidditch field.

"I'll get Loony," Lavender whispered, "You get Ginny. You ready to do this?"

"Ready to do what?" Hermione asked, "We aren't going to fight them off of him Lavender. Just let me handle this." They walked over a few steps before Luna caught sight of them.

"Look Harry! It's Hermione and Lavender. Take me to them!" She said in her dreamy voice, giggling as Harry muttered that he couldn't see with her hand covering his eyes.

"Nice to see you Hermione, uh, you too Lavender." He said when Luna finally gave him back his sight, as he made his way over to her and Lavender with some difficulty which Hermione could immediately see was caused by Ginny trying to pull him back in the direction of the Quidditch field and not by Luna's legs wrapped around his waist or her arms around his neck.

"Hello Harry, how did Quidditch practice go?" she asked sweetly as she gave him a smile.

"Great actually, the team is really trying to pull Gryffindor back into top place after McLaggen botched up the last game." Harry enthused.

Ginny scoffed, "McLaggen is a moron, I'm glad I won't have to look at him for the next few weeks and we're better off without him. Harry'll take us to the Cup again." She said with sickening adoration, Hermione even bristled as she placed an arm on Harry's, blatantly feeling up his biceps. "But if you don't all mind, I want to talk to Harry about… Quidditch stuff, you know plans, team positions, so come on Harry."

"Actually Ginny, we can talk about that at the next practice and we can include the entire team at the same time alright?" He looked over at Hermione, smiling as he did so, "I want to spend some time with Hermione right now, I missed her."

"You just saw her an hour ago," Ginny replied tersely, "Besides, you see her all the time and I'm sure she won't mind someone else having a chance at you." She said with a look towards Hermione, the brown haired girl immediately catching the real meaning behind her words. "All you'll do is homework, what's more fun, Quidditch or homework?"

Hermione could see that Harry was completely oblivious to the younger girl's machinations, though Ginny's intentions weren't lost on the other three girls present.

"Well," Harry continued, "I missed her. An hour is a long time."

_Yes it is._ Hermione smirked as she saw Ginny narrow her eyes at her.

"And I missed you too Harry," Hermione replied sweetly.

"And Harry promised that he'd take me to the Ravenclaw tower after I hurt my ankle." Luna added from Harry's back. "I tripped down the stairs leading to the pitch. It was the work of the Great Old Ones," she said in a serious tone, "They wanted me to trip so that I would set off a series of events that'd change the world _and_ I lost my shoes, see?" she added sweetly as she stretched out a leg, her toes wiggling in the air before she wrapped her legs back around Harry's legs, where she promptly started trying to tickle him with her feet.

Hermione turned to look at Lavender, who seemed to be at a complete loss as to why she wasn't tearing both Ginny and Luna off of Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes and mouthed 'later' at the girl before turning back to Harry and walking up to him and hugging him. He smelled of grime and sweat and grass and broomstick polish and the cologne he'd started using after fifth year. She rested her head in the crook of his neck, her forehead touching his sweaty skin. "You stink Harry," she chided softly.

"Sorry," he replied, Hermione feeling the rumble of his voice through his chest.

"You do smell a bit funny Harry," Luna said from her spot on Harry's back. "You should go and take a shower."

"Yes I should Luna," Harry replied, "Which means Ginny, that we'll talk about your Quidditch ideas some other time ok? I've got to get out of this uniform before I stink up the entire school grounds and-"

"But first you have to take me to Ravenclaw tower Harry," Luna interrupted.

"Right, after I do that." Harry replied over his shoulder before looking back at Hermione. "You want to keep me company?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"Of course I would Harry," Hermione replied immediately.

"Uh, Lavender?" Harry looked at the girl.

Hermione gave Lavender a nod, mouthed 'Ginny' at the girl while surreptitiously pointing at the redhead with her fingers. "Sure, I'll just tag along with you on the way to Ravenclaw." The girl replied dumbly.

Hermione released Harry from her hug before moving to his side, which fortunately happened to be between Harry and Ginny, motioning for Lavender to take Harry's other side. She turned to glare at Ginny, who scowled in return. A part of Hermione actually felt bad for the red-head, she knew about her long-time crush on Harry and if she was honest with herself she had pictured Harry and Ginny ending up together. They'd make a nice couple, a spitting image of Harry's parents, Hogwarts' golden Quidditch couple. She'd pictured the two of them in a relationship and being happy and in love.

Just like she'd pictured her and Ron.

But things changed, Harry had clearly made his choice and in her mind that was all that mattered. If Ron and Ginny didn't accept that choice, both Harry's and hers, then that was just sour grapes on them, because she _knew_ this was right and she knew she wouldn't let Ginny, who had her own boyfriend, take Harry away from her. Maybe it was selfishness, maybe it was love, or because she'd never had a boyfriend before, and realistically she still hadn't, maybe it was some stupid jealous drive that she had always thought was absent in her, or maybe… No, it was because it was Harry. And if she'd flown into the Department of Mysteries to fight Death Eaters for Harry then it was a sure bet that she'd fight off Ginny for him.

She looked down at his hands and instinctively took one of them into hers, a brief look of surprise registering on Harry's face as she did so. She looked up at him and gave him a tentative smile, silently asking him if the gesture was allowed and felt elated when he gave her hand a small squeeze in acceptance.

Hermione looked back at Ginny, who seemed to get the message, her face momentarily falling before she clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes at Hermione, the two seemingly facing off again. "Maybe," Hermione began slowly, "You can tell me about those Quidditch plans of yours later Ginny?" she asked, making sure to keep her tone cool and level. "Recently I've become rather _taken_ with Quidditch," she threw a quick glance at Harry, Ginny's eyes slightly widening in response. "So I'd like to hear about those plays you've got in your mind. Please?" she added softly. She'd fight for Harry, but that didn't mean she wanted this to be ugly. Luckily Ginny understood what Hermione was saying and simply nodded before turning around and quickly walking away.

"Well," Lavender interrupted, "So… what about Luna?"

"Oh!" Luna said, hopping off of Harry's back, "You don't need to carry me Harry, I lied about my ankle."

Hermione simply smirked as the little blonde reached into her pocket and took out two shrunken shoes before magically reverting them to their original size. "Oh I also lied about losing my shoes."

"What? Why would you do that?" Harry asked.

"To make Ginny stay a respectable distance from you," Luna replied. "Because she wanted you to be alone, and that'd be bad."

"Why would that be bad?" Harry asked, his eyes darting from Luna to Hermione and Lavender.

"Harry," Hermione replied softly, as if trying to explain a complex answer to a small child. "Ginny wanted to be with you by herself." She gave him a look but wasn't surprise to see that he didn't understand her. "She was flirting with you."

Harry scoffed, looking at the three girls to see if they were just pulling his leg. It looked like they weren't. "I didn't hear any flirting."

"She was flirting with her body," Lavender supplied, "The way she was standing, she was feeling up your arm, how close she was standing to you. She was really hot for you."

Harry quickly blushed at Lavender's words. "But why, she's with Dean isn't she? And besides she knows that Hermione and I-"

"I don't think she cares Harry," Hermione replied. "I think she's like me, when Lavender was with Ron and I was jealous." The group, except Luna, shifted uncomfortably, all of them still slightly bothered by the whole mess that was the short lived Lavender-Ron-Hermione love triangle.

"Oh," Harry said dumbly, "So she likes me, is jealous of you and wants to try to what? Make me fancy her too? Take me away from you?"

"Yes. That's what it looks like." Hermione nodded.

"Well, I fancy you Hermione," Harry said sincerely as he faced the browned haired girl full on, squeezing her hand. "Not Ginny."

Hermione beamed at him, her face glowing. It was the first time he'd actually told her that he liked her as more than a friend. Luna and Lavender seemed to realize it was a private moment and turned away, the two making small talk that was incredibly awkward amongst each other. Hermione ignored them as she embraced Harry, "I fancy you too." She then kissed him on his cheek, closing her eyes and sighing as he returned the favor and kissed her on the cheek. "Can I talk to you about something important Harry? She whispered.

"Of course, but uh, I'm not keen on the idea of staying in this uniform, give me a few and then meet me in the common room?" he asked.

"Yes, that's a good idea. Hit those showers." They shared a laugh as he threw his leg over his broom and began hovering in front of her. "I'll see you there."

"You should have told him to watch out for Soap Scum Frogs," Luna said as the three girls watching him fly off in the direction of the castle's Quidditch room. "They might make him fall in the showers."

"Yes I should have," Hermione replied to humor the younger girl. "Thank you Luna, for keeping Ginny away."

"It's no problem Hermione," the blonde said, her tone soft, "I wouldn't like someone trying to take away my brilliant boy either."

"Alright, what's going on here?" Lavender interrupted. "Loo-una here," she stuttered over Luna's nickname as she saw Hermione send her a glare, "is all over Harry just like Ginny is and you thank her for keeping Ginny away? Why not you too? Luna kissed Harry at the party didn't she?" she asked Luna before gasping. "Oh! Do you three have a… _special_ arrangement?"

Hermione groaned as she immediately understood what Lavender was asking before laughing heartily. "No Lavender, we do not have a _ménage à trois _going on, how could you seriously ask that?" she asked, laughing to shake the embarrassment away. _Please Luna, please tell me you don't know what Lavender just said. _

"Well Luna's… uh, you," Lavender said in the most diplomatic fashion as she stared at the Hogwart's "loon" before turning back to Hermione, "And well, I figured that maybe the quiet ones are always the most adventurous?"

Hermione spent the rest of the trip back towards was spent refuting Lavender's crackpot theory about the relationship shared between her, Luna and Harry, bringing her up to speed on Harry and Luna's snog session with Harry and subsequent conversation and acquainting Lavender and Luna to each other.

"Oh, well that clears that up." Lavender grumbled, "Shame, the way things are going so far I would have almost expected… Well Luna, I guess we'll be seeing each other a bit more right? You're Harry and Hermione's friend, and I'm Hermione's friend so…" Hermione caught Lavender struggling to come up with a topic of conversation before her face lit up. "So tell me about those earrings you're wearing, did you make them yourself?"

_Well, looks like they've got something to talk about._

About half an hour later Hermione was sitting on the Gryffindor common room couch, shooing away people who took a seat near her as politely as she could. Lavender was with Parvati, both of them sitting nearby for 'moral support' while she had her chat with Harry. She bit her lip in nervousness, wondering again if she was rushing things a bit. She nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard Harry ask for her. She looked over the couch to see her Harry walk down the stairs, his hair still wild from his recent shower.

"Over here Harry," she whispered while waving her hand, hoping to stay relatively inconspicuous in the room. She leaned back in her chair and took in a deep breath as he walked around the couch and sat down.

"So what did you want to talk about Hermione?" he asked as he moved closer to her.

Hermione wrung her hands together, nervous about the conversation. "Harry, tell me I have nothing to worry about or at least give me a hu-" she was interrupted when Harry leaned over and hugged her, stroking her hair and whispering in her ear.

"You've got nothing to worry about."

"Thank you Harry." Hermione said, feeling a bit of her courage build up. "What I want to talk to you is about us, Harry we fancy each other don't we?"

"I would hope so," Harry replied with a smile which Hermione returned.

"So we both fancy each other," Hermione continued, "We are two people who fancy each other and we've got a date in the works. So, I was just wondering if we're, are we together? Look," she said as she shifted to face him before looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. "I don't want to rush you, I don't want to rush myself, we're both new to this right?" Harry nodded. "Good, I want this to be right, I really do, I _want_ to have that date with you Harry. I suppose I'm just being a bit silly, but you know me, you know how I am; I can't sit still when I don't have all the information."

"No, you never could." Harry whispered.

"I just want to know what _you_ think about this. How do you want to proceed?"

Hermione watched as Harry's eyebrows scrunched up in concentration which relieved some of Hermione's stress. She had long ago learned to tell by his facial expressions whether he was about to give good or bad news and right now she knew it wasn't bad news; though it looked like he was struggling to find the right words.

"Well I thought that we would decide that once we'd have our first date." He looked over at her, his green eyes reflecting the image of the nearby fireplace. "That's how it works isn't it? I didn't want to presume…"

"Let's not presume anything then Harry," Hermione interrupted, her mind taking over and trampling over any nervousness she may have felt. "Let's do this, right now." She said, as she summoned up as much courage as she could as she went into her "brave stance", back straight, hands out in front of her and resting on her lap, her chin up and her eyes forward and locked onto Harry's. Suddenly she felt as if she was about to take the biggest test of her life and she hadn't studied for, sweaty hands, rapid heartbeat, fast shallow breaths.

"Harry, would you be my boyfriend?"

Whatever Harry was about to say died in his throat, instead he simply gaped at Hermione like a fish out of water for a few seconds. As those seconds ticked by Hermione began to worry, fearing that she'd pushed him out of his comfort zone and scared him away.

"Isn't it my job to ask you to be my girlfriend?" Harry asked with a grin, his eyes shining.

"I'm a job am I?" Hermione shot back in mock seriousness, loving the direction this conversation seemed to be heading in.

Harry gave an exaggerated sigh. "I don't know. Bossy, pushy, always think you're in the right, all the nagging…"

Hermione let out a gasp and gave him a playful look of indignation. "And you think you're Mister Easy Going? Moody, arrogant, attention seeking… You know I could still call off our date don't you? Maybe I should go find a boy who can comb his hair properly and doesn't smell so bad after a Quidditch game." The two stared at each other before descending into a fit of laughter, embracing each other in the process. Hermione tried to stifle her laughter by resting her head on Harry's chest and he in turn buried his face in her mane of bushy hair.

She stopped laughing when she felt him press his lips against her ear.

"Yes."

"Harry?" she shakily asked, pushing away from him to look at him with big wide eyes.

"I'll be your boyfriend."

Hermione's breathing momentarily faltered, her heart skipped a beat. "And I'll be your girlfriend," she managed to say in a rush before a smile appeared on her face that threatened to lock her muscles in a permanent smiling position for the rest of her life. She looked at him, the giant smile that mirrored her own on his face, "You're my boyfriend." She stated, nodding at him to respond.

"Yes I am," he said in a soothing voice, "And you are my girlfriend. Do you feel as giddy and silly as I do?" he asked, his cheeks coloring.

"Yes I do boyfriend," Hermione replied. "I feel warm, and I can't stop smiling and I can't stop thinking about the fact that you are my boyfriend. Oh I feel like a stupid silly girl right now." She turned around in Harry's embrace, facing away from him as she snuggled up against him. "Your girlfriend can do this right?" she asked, her face burning scarlet.

"Yes," Harry's voice was higher than usual, she heard him clear his throat in an attempt to bring his voice to normal. "Yes my girlfriend can do that."

"And can your girlfriend hold your hand?" she asked, incredibly comfortable in her current sitting position.

"Yes."

Hermione nodded, her bushy hair tickling Harry's nose as it moved with her. "And," she said in a near whisper, "can your girlfriend kiss you?"

"I think," Harry began, "That your boyfriend would like to wait until our first date before we kiss, if that's ok with you."

Hermione turned around to look at him, his eyes so big and green up close. He gave her a small smile, one that told her that he wanted her to be ok with this. And why wouldn't she? He wasn't asking a lot, if he wanted to wait until their first date until they kissed then she could wait, if he wanted to wait ten dates until they started snogging then she'd wait ten dates.

"Hermione," Harry's chest rumbled at her back, "Maybe find better nicknames for each other? Referring to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend in third person is rather silly don't you think?"

"Yes, your girlfriend agrees."


	13. Apparition

**AN**: A hearty "thank you" to all the readers, reviewers and people who favorite or are following this story. I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that as of the 10th of this month I am 22 years old! YAAAAAAAY me! The bad news is that the new semesters starts on the 27th of this month, so updates _may_ be a bit slower as I get into my new classes. Hopefully I'll be able to continue my updating schedule (which seems to be bi-weekly at the moment), but I'll try to update as I usually do.

Other good news (sorta?) I got a two plot ideas jumbling around in my brain for two more Harry/Hermione stories, but those'll only show up after I'm finished with this one.

And yes, though it's not perfect I like the hippogriff symbolism. I also realized that in the first movie some Slytherin with TERRIBLE TEETH takes a beater's bat off of his Quidditch team mate and hits a Bludger towards Oliver Wood (pretty sure that was him) and knocks him off his broom. No one called a foul then… so yeah. McLaggen's behavior seems pretty par for the course.

Also again, **I am going to change my screen name to Ruinus.**

* * *

**Apparition**

Hermione leaned over to give Harry a kiss on his forehead, her love lying down on the common room couch, his head cradled in her lap. They'd been talking about Harry's mission to retrieve Slughorn's memories about Voldemort and Dumbledore's insistence that Harry's Occlumency lessons be halted until he could retrieve said memories, about Harry's suspicions about Mafloy's activities and his regular disappearances and wondering if Dobby or Kreacher would be able to discover anything about his whereabouts. After a few minutes of conversation Harry had begun scanning the Marauder's Map, hiding it within the pages of a Quidditch magazine, while Hermione charmed a book to hover in front of her for easy reading. Somewhere along the line she'd started playing with his hair, running her hands through the soft black hair. The effect was relaxing to the two of them, though far more to Harry than it was to Hermione as her soft caresses promptly put him to sleep. When Hermione had finally noticed his body go limp with sleep, his magazine and Map falling onto his chest in the process, Hermione stifled a laugh; she never figured him for a boy who could be petted to sleep. As she filed away that little tidbit for future use she reached over and took his magazine away from him and whispered 'mischief managed' as she folded up the enchanted paper and stuck it neatly into Harry's robe pockets. Now it would look like Harry had just fallen asleep reading a normal magazine and not scanning what was probably an illegal piece of parchment. She'd often wondered if the Marauder's Map actually broke any actual Ministry laws, perhaps ones to a right to privacy?

"Hardly studying I see."

Startled, Hermione squeaked as she looked up to see Fay, who walked around the side of the couch and dragged over a nearby chair, a book in her hands.

"Oh, Hello Fay," Hermione said as she rolled up the magazine and tried to put it back into Harry's hands, who was thankfully still asleep, before having it taken out of her hands by Fay. "How are you?" she asked in a lower voice, motioning towards Harry.

"Oh I'm fine," the girl said as she sighed and sat down on a nearby chair. "Just trying to study for a Divination exam that's coming up. You know I really shouldn't have let Lavender or Parvati talk me into signing up for that class."

"How'd they do that?" Hermione asked.

"I mailed them before the beginning of the year, wondering what classed they'd been taking. I had a free class left open that I couldn't decide on and well, a promise of an easy class with two friends already in it? I also thought I could use some Divination to make sure bets on Quidditch matches," she admitted with a grin. "It was an easy choice that I shouldn't have made." She shrugged. "Oh well, I'll have to tough it out I suppose." She sighed as she opened up her Divination book.

"You don't like the class?"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just I'm not as enthusiastic about it as Lav and Parvati which makes it a bit hard for me to study or work with them, they squeal like little girls whenever they figure out some Divination problem." Fay complained. Of the five girls in the dorm she was known as the "tomboy" of the group. She was more interested in Quidditch than in seeing the future of her love life, eagerly awaited the arrival of her _Quidditch Monthly_ and other sports catalogues instead of the _Witch Weekly_ most of the Hogwarts female population read. Hermione watched as she opened her own book and started browsing a large parchment. "Ugh," Fay scoffed, "At least Trelawney could assign homework that's currently up to date, and this is a first week question in the last few months of the year? You ever get that Hermione? End up with a homework assignment that's so easy that it actually ends up being a waste of time?" Hermione nodded emphatically. "_What does a hippogriff symbolize?"_ Fay read, "Well, at least it's an easy one."

As Fay started on her assignment a silence fell on the three students. Hermione felt the need to make small talk, particularly since she wanted to get to know her dorm mates better. "I once rode on a hippogriff," Hermione mentioned, "Back when H-Professor Hagrid had one on the school grounds."

"Really?" Fay asked, surprise on her face.

"Yes," Hermione went on, remembering her flight on Buckbeak in her third year while trying to keep any mention of her adventure through time with Harry a secret. "Harry and I went down to visit him down in his hut one day, Ron didn't want to tag along," she added to explain Ron's absence from the fake outing, "and he was feeding Buckbeak, the one that injured Malfoy, and he let us ride on him and have a short fly around the grounds."

"Really?" Fay asked, setting aside her work. "That must have been fun."

"Yes it was." Hermione smiled as the memories came flooding back. She remembered saving Harry's life while they were in the past, getting chased through the forest, and her ride with Harry on Buckbeak as they flew to save Sirius. More importantly, she remembered Harry rushing out in the small lake in the Forbidden Forest and saving his past self with a Patronus charm. That had been the first moment in her life when she'd been in awe of Harry's magical abilities. A hundred Dementors and the most powerful and brightest Patronus charm she'd ever seen and she realized then and there, far more than at any other point in her life, that Harry would do great and amazing things. She looked down at him, sleeping peacefully as she continued to play with his hair. She knew that all he needed was encouragement, someone to believe in him and nourish that bravery, loyalty, honesty, humility, that impulse to do good, his "saving people thing" and help him cast off that self-doubt and the fear of being exceptional that the Dursleys had left on his mind. _I'll believe in you Harry._ She reaffirmed in her mind.

"Must have been some ride," Fay's voice brought her back to reality. Hermione blushed, realizing she had just lost track of a conversation simply because of Harry.

"Yes," Hermione replied slowly as she got back into the conversation, "I admit that I don't like flying as much as Harry does, but I could appreciate the view while we flew over the-"

"Hold on," Fay interrupted, looking up at the bookworm with wide eyes. "You and Harry both flew on a hippogriff together?"

"Yes," Hermione replied simply, not quite understanding the sudden change in Fay's demeanor.

"Wow," was all the girl replied with. "Don't tell Lavender or Parvati that or you'll never hear the end of it. No, really, don't. Please? I don't want to hear more Divination stuff out of them than I have to."

"Alright." Hermione simply nodded.

"You, you're kid-Hermione," Fay said, "What do you know about hippogriff symbolism?"

"Nothing really," the bookworm admitted, "Why?"

"Well ok, I'll start off by saying that since symbolism is influenced by culture or someone's belief system no one is really sure where this idea comes from but… well, hippogriffs symbolize the impossible being made possible…" Hermione nodded, seemingly able to understand how a creature that appears to be a cross between an eagle and a horse might come to symbolize such a thing, "and love. Specifically, impossible love."

Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach again. Trying not to show her sudden interest she tried to play it off as nothing. "Oh really?" she tried asking in the most normal way possible as her hand froze in Harry's hair.

"Yes really. Like I said, if Lavender or Parvati hears about this they'll go on and on about how you two are written in the stars, overcoming impossible odds to end up together or something."

"Yes," Hermione replied as she remembered Lavender making a similar comment. "She's already said that in fact. About Harry and I, how we're written in the stars because our initials would be the same if we married."

Fay looked at Hermione with a blank expression. "Ok, before with the hippogriff alone it was just kinda funny, now it's just scary. Hippogriff ride, same initials, damsel in distress thing with the troll in 1st year," Fay's eyes suddenly widened in disbelief, "Killed the basilisk for you in second year too now that I think about it."

"Oh please," Hermione interrupted before glancing down to see if Harry was still asleep. He was. She figured that as long as she kept playing with his hair he'd stay asleep. "I don't believe in that stuff and I'm sure you don't either. I have plenty of reasons to like Harry that don't require nonsense. He is kind, loyal and brave. He cares deeply for his friends and family, so much so that he's willing to put himself in harm's way to help them. Yes, sometimes he is moody and short tempered but other times he is so incredibly happy, so fun loving, so patient." She looked down at him, silently wishing that he was awake so that she could tell him all these things to his face. She didn't know if she'd ever had this courage again. "He is my first friend, my best friend. He looks at me and I feel good and my heart melts and I feel butterflies in my stomach. More importantly I feel like I belong, I don't feel like a lonely little girl anymore. He talks to me and listens, he comforts me and holds me and lets me cry when I needed to. He's been there for me when I needed it. He tells me stupid jokes that make me swat his arm in annoyance even though I secretly find them funny. We can talk to each other with a look. I don't have to dumb myself down for him, or hold myself back, because he accepts and likes me for who I am. And-" she suddenly jumped in surprise as Harry's eyes opened and stared straight at her.

"And I am _such_ a good flirter." He added with a smile that stayed on his face even though Hermione pushed him off her lap and fell on the floor with a soft thud.

"Harry! You, how long where you laying there listening in?" Hermione demanded as Harry brought himself back up to the couch, Fay's laughter mingling in with his own.

"Oh I was awake ever since Fay got here," he admitted with a grin as he lay back down on the couch and once again used Hermione's legs as a pillow. "I just didn't want to wake up from my comfy spot."

"So you heard everything?" Hermione asked warily, embarrassed over the idea that he'd heard her conversation with Fay.

"'fraid I did." Harry replied, "Though you also left out my charming good looks." He flashed a smarmy smile which immediately resulted in Hermione swatting his lips.

"So HP," Fay began, using the nickname she'd thought up for the boy, "What do you think about all the other stuff? The hippogriff and such I mean."

Hermione scoffed and looked down at Harry. "Please don't tell me you believe that stuff too Harry. It's nonsense." She peered down at Harry, who was sporting a rather shy smile and gave her a warm look, the same one she had seen on his face when he thought he was secretly staring at her.

"It probably is." He agreed with her.

Something about his tone and the look in his eyes told Hermione that he was just saying what she wanted to hear.

"Yes, it is nonsense." Hermione said, Harry's look of adoration sapping away all of her conviction.

"Yeah. Us? Written in the stars?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, it's silly. I know."

"Yeah."

"On the other hand," Harry said with a teasing grin, "Maybe the Chosen One needs the Brightest Witch."

Hermione blushed at that and, failing to find any witty retort, simply smacked him on the mouth again.

Fay laughed beside them, "You two are such lamers." She teased before settling down. "Kidding aside, lucky to have found each other…" she sighed, "Wish I found a boyfriend."

"I'm sure you will Fay," Hermione told the other girl as she resumed playing with Harry's hair, smiling internally at the face Harry made as she ran her hand through his messy hair.

"Lucky?" she muttered, an idea forming in her head. _Felix Felicis! Of course!_

"What are you thinking about girlfriend?" Harry asked, neither of them having thought up new pet names for each other. Fay pretended to gag at his term of endearment.

"Oh," Hermione said, face slightly pink at having been caught so easily while plotting. "Nothing really, I'll tell you later. In private. Boyfriend." Hermione still felt the good type of jitters whenever she was reminded that yes; the boy she loved was her boyfriend.

"Should I leave?" Fay asked, her cheeks red. "I'm not sure I should be hearing this-"

"Please." Hermione said dryly, "Am I the only girl from our dorm who doesn't have her mind in the gutters?"

"Clara doesn't." Fay said after some thought, "You two could form a club. Speaking of Clara, she's going to be taking the Apparition test tomorrow, Hermione, could you keep her company?"

"Of course," Hermione replied easily before pausing. "She can join me and Ron, since we're going to be there together." She suddenly frowned as she thought of her redheaded friend, who she just realized, was nowhere in sight. Hopefully he wasn't avoiding them even after their conversation yesterday. "Where is Ron?" She asked.

"Oh Ron's downstairs somewhere arguing with Ginny about Dean over their relationship. We were walking around the halls together when we heard a noise behind a suit of armor. Well, Ron suddenly says "I know that voice!" and peeks around the suit of armor and finds Ginny and Dean snogging. They got into a shouting match then and there in the hallway. I left as soon as I could." Harry said.

"How long ago was that?" Hermione asked, noticing that she'd been sitting here with Harry for at least an hour.

"I dunno, I bumped into Luna and had a chat with her before I made my way up here since I knew you were in Arithmancy class at the time." Harry supplied.

"And he's still not here?" Hermione asked as she looked around the room. "Must be some shouting match."

"I could hear it even when I was three halls away," Harry added with some amusement.

They all sat in comfortable silence, Hermione's enchanted book floating before her again, Harry nearly falling asleep once more as she played with his hair, and Fay writing up her Divination assignment and occasionally giving the two of them amused looks. It was near ten minutes later when Ginny stormed through the portrait hole, followed sedately by a morose looking Dean and finally trailed by Ron, who looked as angry as his little sister. Hermione watched as Ginny immediately went up to the girl's dorms while Ron caught sight of her and walked over. Dean was left to look around dejectedly before walking over to Seamus and a few other friends.

"Big fight?" Harry asked as he righted himself up, his hair sticking up at the back of his head, Hermione's hand immediately going to try to pat it back down.

"Ginny's mental, going around snogging Dean like that. And who does Dean think he is anyway?" Ron fumed, "What type of bloke goes and snog his friend's little sister?"

"Well, they are dating," Fay added uncertainly.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ron asked, clearly never having met Fay before.

"I'm Fay," the girl said, "I sometimes play as a Beater during the unranked games?" Fay asked, hoping jog the red-head's memory.

Ron simply shook his head, not recalling her name or face. "Sorry, don't remember."

"She's one of my friends," Hermione added simply, giving Ron a significant glare that told him she wasn't happy with his tone of voice.

"Alright," Ron said as he accepted her presence. "Either way, about what you said, a bloke doesn't go and kiss his friend's little sister in front of him like that."

"Well, they were doing it in private, it was you who started snooping," Harry said.

"What? Not you too mate! I swear no one is on my side in this." He muttered.

"What do you expect Ron? That's what couples do? Are you going to start prying me and Harry apart when we start snogging?" she asked before her mind shut down at her words. She could feel Harry blush beside her while Ron looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"That's different," Ron waved away her point, "Ginny's my sister. She shouldn't be doing things like that. Ever."

"She's going to do it whether you like it or not Ron," Hermione continued as she tried to get away from her own embarrassment, "If you can't handle her kissing Dean then what are you going to do when she shows up one day pregnant?"

"WHAT?" Ron bellowed as he stood up, everyone in the common room looking over at him before Harry dragged him back down into his seat.

"She didn't mean right now Ron," he said in an exasperated tone, "She means in the future."

Ron grit his teeth, his anger at Dean getting his little sister pregnant disappearing as he realized it hadn't actually happened. "I won't have to worry about that because Ginny'll be a virgin forever. Like my mom and that one lady who gave birth to… that guy the Muggles like."

"Jesus Christ." Fay said, though Hermione wasn't sure if she was pointing out the name of that "guy the Muggles like" or if she was using his name to express her disbelief at Ron's views. Maybe both.

Harry's voice broke Hermione out of her stupor, "Ron that… you know what. You're right. She'll be a virgin forever, just like your mom is. Let's talk about something else?" He looked over at Hermione and gave her hand a squeeze, hoping that she was with him on this.

"Right," Hermione said, the gears in her mind starting back up again, "Oh Ron we have the Apparition tests tomorrow, have you been studying?"

"Yes yes," Ron muttered as he pulled out the Ministry pamphlet that had been passed out a few weeks before, _Common Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them_. "Destination, determination, deliberation…" he listed off the three Ds of Apparition in a bored tone of voice.

"Deliberation?" Harry asked unsurely.

"Yes, Ron is correct, Destination, Determination, Deliberation. The Three Major Ds of Apparition. You sure you've studied enough Ron? You might want to look at the pamphlet too Harry, you turn of age after school's out and there's no harm in studying ahead."

"I suppose," Harry said as Ron handed the pamphlet over to him, eager to get rid of it. "Why deliberation though?" he asked the group after a few minutes of looking the pamphlet over.. "Deliberation means slow and thoughtful consideration and that doesn't really make sense since that's already covered by the 'determination' part of this. What?"

Hermione was staring at Harry, unable to form any words.

"Since when have you been so brainy mate?" Ron asked after a while.

Harry gave an embarrassed laugh which Hermione immediately picked up on.

"Harry is just learning to apply himself now, right Harry?" she looked over at him with praise in her eyes. "He's been doing great in potions too, or haven't you noticed Ron?" She added with none of the sting that came with the knowledge that he was out performing her in Slughorn's class.

"No, it's just that I've been picking up good habits from you Hermione." Harry teased with a smile.

"Oh hush," Hermione squeezed his hand, "You are too humble for your own good. You've improved a lot this year, which was all you."

"Well, you pushed me to improve." He pointed right back, grinning at her.

"Are you two always going to be like this?" Ron interrupted, ruining the tender mood. "Ugh, I don't know how I'll live." He said as he pretended to keep his food down in his stomach.

"Should have seen them a while ago," Fay said as she stood up. "Well, if I stick around here I won't ever finish this bloomin' homework, I'll see you in the dorm Hermione. Bye HP and Ron."

The Trio bid her farewell, Ron turning and raising an eyebrow at Harry. "HP? What's that about?"

Harry sighed, "Just because you don't know Fay doesn't mean I don't. She usually comes to all the Quidditch practices, so I met her way back in 1st year."

"Really?" Hermione asked with some surprise. "She's never mentioned it."

"Well," Harry said as he thought up possible reasons, "I guess… I'm not sure. None of us really have real close friends outside of ourselves do we? So most of the time we are together even though I'm sure we've made some friends on our own over the years."

"That's true." Hermione said, "I've made friend with Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Fay, Clara, and Luna."

Ron's head snapped to stare at Hermione, a look of fear on his face. "You talk to Lavender? She's still not out to get me is she?" he asked as his skin paled.

"Not particularly." Hermione said, "She doesn't talk about you anymore. Why?"

"No reasons." Ron said with a dejected look. "I suppose it's for the best. At least she isn't spreading nasty rumors about me. She isn't is she?"

"Not that I know," Hermione replied, wondering why Ron was asking about Lavender. _Maybe he still fancies her? _That train of thought suddenly brought back images of Ginny and how it seemed as though she still harbored feelings for Harry even through her relationship with Dean. "Ron, you know about Ginny's crush on Harry right?"

"Yeah," the red-head said, his eyes glances over at Dean, who appeared to have brightened up in mood and was laughing with his friends. "She's mental she is, fancying a bloke while she's dating another. What of it though?"

"How do you think I should approach her, talk to her that Harry's with me and to give up on her crush?" Hermione asked, hoping for some useful information.

She got none.

"How should I know?" Ron shrugged, "That's not the type of thing I talk to her about. "Hey ill' sis, how's that crush on my best mate going?" Ugh, makes me sick thinking about it." He scratched his chin before continuing, "Though, I 'spose if you're worried about her blowing her lid… then yeah, there's no way around that. Even if you came up to her and said "Sorry for taking Harry away," and groveled at her feet she'd _still_ blow her lid."

Hermione looked over at Harry, who shrugged in response. She could tell this topic of conversation was uncomfortable to him. He'd always avoided the topic of the young Weasley's crush on him, though in reality he avoided the topic of _any_ girl having a crush on him, so the entire conversation left him somewhat lost as to how to respond. "Yes," Hermione admitted, "I suppose she will be quite displeased no matter what I do."

"Harry could go with you though. Yeah!" he suddenly pumped his fist, "I just had a great idea Harry, you could use that Luck Potion, go with Hermione and explain that you're with Hermione now." He then turned away and muttered "And maybe convince her to stop snogging Dean."

"No," Hermione sighed in disappointment. The idea had merit but Harry had more important things to do with the Luck Potion. "It would help smooth things over, but Harry," she turned in her seat and looked at him before whispering. "Why don't you use the Luck Potion on Slughorn? Find some way to get him to give you his memory?"

Harry squirmed a little, seemingly having some reservations about using the potion in such a manner. "Well, I suppose I could but… I was saving that Luck for something else…" he trailed off as he looked down at his hands.

"Harry, there's nothing more important than getting that memory right now, it'll help you stop Voldemort and stop all these senseless killings we keep hearing about."

Harry immediately came around, though he seemed to lament the loss of whatever plans he had for the potion. "You're right. Ok, tomorrow I have a short class with him since everyone else is going to be at the Apparition tests, just me, Ernie and Malfoy." He said with some distaste. "Well, I'll try to butter him up and try one final time, I've actually been brewing a Euphoria Elixir for one of my assignments," Hermione raised an eyebrow at this, somewhat surprised that he was making such an advanced potion, "I'll try to get him to drink it and then maybe he'll happily give me his memories. If not, then I'll use the Felix."

"Well this is more like it," Ron quipped, "Talking about some crazy adventure Dumbledore's given you instead of worrying over girls." He threw his head back and leaned into his chair with a yawn. "Blimey Harry, since when have girls been so bloody important?"

Hermione was about to chastise the boy over his curse words when she felt Harry hold her hand.

"Oh I don't know," he said as he gave her a soft squeeze, "I've always thought one girl was bloody important."

Hermione leaned over and kissed him and whispered a "thank you" into his ear, which caused him to feel slightly tickled by the sensation.

The two started talking about random things, choosing for the moment to put thoughts of Dumbledore and Slughorn out of their mind and focus on their normal everyday lives. Ron grumbled about missing dinner and started talking to Harry about upcoming Quidditch practices and some plays he thought would be good for the team, Hermione listened half-heartedly while she continued reading her book. Aside from a few uncomfortable stares from Ron whenever she would snuggle up next to Harry, or when he would plant a kiss on the top of her head, their conversation was easy going and casual, something that Hermione realized she had missed for the past few months. Hermione understood that Ron would take some time to get over his feelings for her, something which probably wasn't helped by seeing her with their mutual best friend in such close and intimate positions, but truly felt as if he was trying to move beyond it and it seemed as if their friendship was on the mend. As the night wore on and they started feeling the need for sleep the three of them parted as they had done in the past, friendly goodbyes and the knowledge that the three of them would meet up for breakfast tomorrow. The only difference now was that Harry hung back and gave Hermione a goodnight kiss on her cheek. Ron snorting at the top of the stairs and good naturedly muttering that Harry was "whipped".

The next morning found the Trio sitting in one of the castle's many courtyards, Harry once again sharing some misgivings about Malfoy's odd behavior throughout the year and deciding not to go to Hagrid's private funeral for Aragog. Ron's arachnophobia and terrible memories of almost being eaten by the thing and it's spawn kept him from going, while Hermione had the excuse of never actually having met the creature and convinced Harry that a funeral for a monster was a terrible reason to get detention. Harry had also received an owl containing a letter from Remus.

"What's that?" Hermione asked as the mail owl flew off, several other owls flying through the windows as they delivered mail to Hogwarts and it's students.

"Oh, nothing really," Harry replied, "It's just Remus keeping me informed about a favor I asked him to do for me."

"Oh?" Hermione asked while Ron was silently re-reading the Apparition pamphlet, clearly nervous about the impending examinations.

"It's silly, and might not end up being anything. I've just, well ever since I started fancying you I've been thinking about you a lot." Harry said as he led her a bit out of earshot from Ron. Hermione's cheeks started turning a nice shade of pink at his words. "There are a lot of great things about you Hermione," Harry continued, "Lots of things I've always admired. One of them is how you always seem prepared. Well," he tapped his folded up letter, "This is just me trying to be more like you."

"That's sweet Harry. So, what is that then?"

"Oh, I'm not telling until I've actually got the thing in my hands. Don't want to run my mouth and end up with no results do I?" Harry teased as she stuck his letter into an inside pocket before looking past Hermione and waving. "Hey Clara!"

Hermione turned around and smiled at her new friend, the small red-head walking over to meet them.

"Good morning," Clara greeted. "Ready for the Apparition tests?"

"As ready I can be," Hermione said briskly before doing a graceful spin, "Destination, determination and deliberation!" she recited before frowning. "You know, you are right Harry, deliberation doesn't make sense."

"What's that?" Clara asked as she eyed Ron, who was looking nearly sick with nervousness.

"Oh, just something Harry pointed out yesterday, but it's not important." Hermione said briskly, not trying to give either Clara or Ron anything else to worry over. "I believe we've only got a few minutes left before we all have to leave, do you have any idea when we'll be back Clara?"

Clara shook her head, her pigtails swaying as she did so. "I'm not too sure, but some of the seventh years who've already taken the class say that the test itself is quick, most of the time is spent waiting for everyone to finish."

Hermione nodded and the now quartet simply reviewed their Ministry issued pamphlets, Harry asking the group if the material said why the Ministry required people to have a license for Apparition.

"Seems a bit silly to me," Harry said, "The Ministry doesn't require people to have a license to walk or use the Knight Bus. Seems weird that they'd require people to register somewhere to be approved to use a natural ability."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry's thoughts, surprised that he was able to question the practice of required testing for Apparition. She had thought he would be able to understand such a requirement having grown up in the non-magical world where driver's licenses were only issued after taking and passing a driving test. However, when he compared it to a natural ability that reasoning didn't seem as solid as it once did.

"Well, the Ministry wants to be sure that people will be able to Apparate correctly," Clara said, "Otherwise people could be injured by Splinching themselves. Professor Twycross said as much Harry, don't you remember?"

"Yes, I remember him saying that," Harry said, "It just never made sense to me. Why would the Ministry care if someone gets injured because they decided to Apparate? It's not like we need licenses to use brooms or anything, which carries just a big a risk of getting hurt."

"You should ask Professor Twycross," Hermione suggested, "It's a good question Harry, why haven't you ever brought up these questions in class, or anywhere else?"

The boy shrugged, "I've only started thinking about it recently," he said simply.

"It's all that kissing you two are doing mate," Ron said as he stood up, his face back to its normal color. "You're trying to impress Hermione by acting all smart like." He received a swat on his arm by Hermione, while Clara simply giggled at Harry's blush.

The sounds of bells startled them all, Hermione, Ron and Clara all looking terrified.

"You'll do fine," Harry told them all as they headed back to the entrance hall where several other jittery students were gathering for the Apparition test. "Good luck Ron, Clara." He said as he nodded to the two as they joined the larger group of students before pulling on Hermione's arm and bringing her into a hug, planting kisses on Hermione's forehead. "You'll be great Hermione, you always are."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione said before silently wondering if she'd ever be able to keep her calm whenever Harry embraced and kissed her. _I hope not._ She tiptoed up and kissed him on his forehead, "Good luck to you too," she said before she grudgingly let him go and watched him walk off to the dungeons and his potions class. As she turned around she saw Clara talking a mile a minute, her voice going into her squeaky tone that signaled that she was incredibly nervous. Ron threw Hermione a 'help me!' look which made Hermione laugh at his discomfort. Clara seemed to have caught the interaction.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm doing it again aren't I? Whenever I get nervous I start running my mouth, I have no clue why and I can't stop it, my voice starts go up like this and I'm doing it again aren't I oh no I ca-"

"Clara!" Hermione interrupted with a smile, "Calm down, you'll be fine."

"Oh!" Ron said as he suddenly realized he knew Clara. "You're that girl everyone calls Mousy aren't you? Because your voice starts squeaking right?"

"Yup," Clara squeaked, which sent Ron into a fit of laughter which Hermione promptly shut down with a swat to the back of his head. "Oh it's alright Hermione, I don't mind the nickname, Fay gave it to me when we were young, I kinda like it."

"Everyone! Everyone!" A Sonorus enhanced Professor Twycross bellowed out, "Attention please! Firstly may I remind you that class is now in session, if you are _not_ signed up for the Apparition class and under the legal age of seventeen I must ask you to vacate the hall immediately." Hermione saw a few people leave the area, presumably friends who were giving last minute gestures of encouragement. "Excellent! Now, on to the procedure of this class. Firstly!" he said as he stuck a finger in the air, "If you, for whatever reason, fail today's Apparition test you will be able to retake it at a later time which I will post after today's session. My colleagues from the Ministry of Magic today are Miss Ida McQuillen and Mister Adam Codnor and they will be assisting me in today's examinations. Now onto the examinations themselves…"

A few minutes later the Ministry employees had talked to the Hogwarts staff and lowered the Anti-Apparition enchantment that guarded against unwanted intruders suddenly appearing at random inside the school. With the charm lowered in a straight "path" that led from the Great Hall and ended at the Three Broomsticks Apparition was only possible along this path that had been cleared of the enchantment. The path had been set into three parts; students would first Apparate from one end of the Great Hall to another, then from there to the end of the school grounds and from there to the inn at Hogsmeade. Professor Babbling, who had a free day today, would assist the Ministry employees in calling up the students for their examination.

"Looks like I'll be up first," Clara said as the students started sitting down or standing in groups as they were called up one by one, the cracks of Apparition heard as a student moved across the Great Hall. "What are you going to do if you pass Hermione, where are you gonna go?" she asked as the first student, a girl they didn't know, failed to Apparate across the first section of the course.

"I suppose it'll make visiting the Burrow a bit easier," Hermione answered, Ron nodding next to her. "And maybe depending on where Harry decides to live I'll be able to visit him. Might have to buy a car if he decides to live in a Muggle area."

"Why would he live in a Muggle area?" Ron asked.

"I don't know Ron, I don't think Harry's given his future much serious thought, but for all I know he could decide to live in a Muggle area if he wanted to. Maybe he'll want to catch up on all the years of television he missed out on?"

"Tele-what?" Clara asked.

"Nevermind," Hermione sighed. Truthfully she'd also considered living in Muggle areas. Not that she didn't love the time she'd spent in the Burrow, but it seemed as if magical architecture and interior design was a bit behind the Muggle tastes she had grown to like. Her father's love of computers and genuine excitement whenever he talked about them had also given her a passing curiosity with the things and she didn't look forward to a private life where she wouldn't be able to call her parents and hear their voices. Written letters just weren't the same as a phone call, and the speed of post owls meant that messages had a considerable delay between them, something phones did not suffer from. From Ron's surprise it seemed as if he expected them to live in the magical world. _We'll cross that bridge when we reach it. _Hermione decided.

"Right, well I'll use my license to visit Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley whenever I want," Ron said. "No more getting stuck at home just because we've run out of Floo powder."

"Abnett, Clara!" Professor Babbling called out.

"Oh, that's me!" Clara suddenly squealed. "Wish me luck!" she said before turning and heading towards the Professor.

"I don't like her," Ron said, "She makes my ears hurt."

"Ron!" Hermione smacked him, "she's a sweet girl."

"Who makes my ears bleed. Hey, where are you going?"

Hermione had walked over to the edge of the crowd and waved over at Clara, who was now standing at the starting position and mouthed 'good luck' at the nervous girl. She watched with anticipation as she disappeared from Professor Babblings side and reappeared with a crack next to Miss McQuillen on the other side of the Great Hall. A short moment later and she disappeared again, no doubt appearing at the edge of the school grounds.

"I'm sure she'll pass," Hermione said absentmindedly as another student was called.

"Hey, you think Harry's got any luck with Slughorn?" Ron asked as they moved back to their previous spot, wincing slightly as a particularly loud Apparition crack rang throughout the Great Hall.

"I hope so," Hermione said, "But then Harry's really learned the art of potion making, he's probably better than I am now." She said with pride.

"What? I was talking about-"

"_Yes,"_ Hermione emphasized, "But Harry's _assignment_ isn't our concern right now."

"Right." Ron said, his ears slightly red as he realized he was talking about something that supposed to be secret in a public place. The two of them simply watched and waited as Hermione's name came closer to being called, Professor Babbling calling students with last names beginning with a B, when Ron began to fidget with his arms. Scratching his nose or trying to play with his hair. "Hey Hermione," he said with a whisper, not looking at her.

"What is it Ron? Nervous?"

"Yeah, but not about the exam… well no, I mean I am nervous about the exam too." He said, his ears red. "Hey Hermione?" he said as he turned to look at her face to face. "I'm sorry." Hermione's face was blank, understanding failing to spark in her mind. "For ditching you for Lavender, for being a git to Harry too, for leading you on."

"Ron," Hermione choked, "This isn't the time nor the-"

"I'm too much of a coward to say this any other time Hermione," Ron pleaded, "This should probably be said somewhere when we have time, or something. I dunno, all I know is I have to say this right now, before they call my name so you can either forgive me or let me run my mouth. I don't think I can say it after this."

Hermione nodded before quickly looking around and casting a Privacy Charm, Professor Babbling calling "Ernest, Clayton" told her that Ron had only a few minutes to say what he needed to.

"I don't really know why I did it," Ron said, "Why I didn't push Lavender off of me when she, when _we_ started snogging in the common room after that match. But I think it was because that would have been easier." Hermione gave him a confused look which caused him to look down at his feet. "When you asked me to Slughorn's party I was happy and excited, I had fancied you for a while and thought that I finally had my chance." Ron looked up, still not meeting her gaze as he looked over at the other students Apparating across the hall. "But then I started getting scared, let's not kid ourselves Hermione, you are brilliant, bloody brilliant and I'm not. If it wasn't for you I don't think I'd even be an average student. I was scared you'd realize that at some point. One day I was trying to sleep and couldn't, thought I was sick at first, but then I realized that it's fine if I'm your friend and daft and lazy right?" He looked over at her for the first time in the conversation and Hermione could see the nervousness and regret in his eyes. "But it's not okay if your boyfriend is daft and lazy. I knew everyone would look at us and think "Just what does she see in him?" or "He must have her on Love Potions!" or something."

"Ron, that-"

"Let me finish Hermione." Ron stopped her cold. "They _would_ think that, or even if they didn't I know _I _would have thought that." He started to pace but caught himself, remembering that he had to stay within the confines of the Privacy Charm. "And I was scared that I'd mess things up somehow. You know how I am," he said. Hermione smiled at him, hoping to ease some of the tension he was feeling. It seemed to have worked. "I'm a right git," he said with a small smile. "We'd fight, we both know we would. Sooner or later I'd open my big mouth and say something hurtful, or put my foot in my mouth." Ron paused as he heard Professor Babbling call a student named Patricia Flume, they both knew he only had a few minutes left. "I was scared," he admitted with a shaky breath, "And Lavender was an easy way out, because with Lavender I knew I wouldn't have to talk and because we didn't really care about each other."

Hermione stood and considered his words, a small part of still angry and bitter and upset. But a larger part told her that she should just forgive him. He had been scared and she understood that. She had been scared when she had first asked him to be her date, she'd been scared when she started to realize that she felt more than friendly feelings towards Harry and a few times in the dead of night she'd been terrified if somehow she didn't work out with Harry. Fear was a very real and understandable emotion. Where she had taken the risk and pursued a relationship with Harry he had turned away in fear from a relationship with her. Again, a small part told her to still be angry, but at this point what would it matter? She'd been hurt, yes, she'd had image issues for a long time now and suddenly seeing Ron reject her and run to the arms of a shapelier girl had affected her deeply. How could she trust him when he was supposed to be one of her best friends, her buddy, someone who would make her smile and laugh and feel affection for and yet betrayed her so thoroughly, both as a friend and as a girl? That knife would always be in her back, no matter how much time would pass, she'd always have that memory. That ugly twisting slithering part of her mind wanted to rebuke him then and there, to tell him that she'd never forgive him.

But wasn't she beyond that now? He'd hurt her but then Harry had come along and made her feel even better than before. She could honestly say that even with everything that was happening in the world she had never felt happier and safer than she did now. And that was because of Harry.

"You… you've hurt me Ron." She began with some uncertainty. "And I wish you had told me this before, told me that you were scared about ruining our friendship because I was too, and I would have understood." Ron flinched a bit. "But, that's past us now right?"

Ron's smile was incredible. He'd gone from looking as if he was nearly going to cry to looking as if he'd just been told the Chudley Cannons had just won the League Cup. "Yeah!" he said, his voice slightly choked up. "Yeah, we're friends now! It's great innit?"

"It quite is." Hermione smiled before leaning over and hugging him, Ron momentarily hesitating at the rare contact between them.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione pulled back, as Professor Babbling called her name again. "Looks like I'm up," she said as she started to move, pausing momentarily to look back at Ron. "Good luck Ron, I know you'll pass and we'll meet up at the Three Broomsticks and have a drink with Clara to celebrate."

"You bet." Ron said.

Hermione strode over to Professor Babbling with purpose, nodding at her when she asked if she was ready.

"Alright Miss Granger," the Ancient Runes teacher said in a pleasant voice. "Whenever you are read you are to Apparate from here," she pointed at a hoop on the ground, "to the other hoop on over there!" she pointed at the opposite hoop by which Miss McQuillen waved. "If you don't feel up to it at any point you can opt out, if you Splinch yourself, though I doubt _you _will dear," she enthused, "the nice Ministry employees will call Madam Pomfrey and get you right fixed. Are you ready?"

"Yes Professor," Hermione said as she began to visualize her destination and mentally told herself that she could reach the destination through magical means and finally picturing herself, whole, at the end point. Hermione took a deep breath before she disappeared and reappeared with a resounding crack next to Miss McQuillen.

"Very good dear," the young Ministry employee cooed. "Now, from here you will Apparate to the Front Gate. Whenever you are ready dear."

Hermione paused for a moment before she looked back at the crowd, pleased to see that Ron had moved to the front and was shouting words of encouragement to her. She smiled, glad that he'd finally apologized to her. It was, perhaps, a crude apology, she mused, but it was Ron's apology and because of that she'd finally been able to get rid of that horrid mental state she'd grown and nurtured while she pined after him. She realized that she had done the same thing, she had asked Harry to be her date to Slughorn's party and then left him for Smith and-

"Are you alright dear?" Miss McQuillen asked next to her, "You nervous?"

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, slightly embarrassed that her mind started wandering during an examination. "I'll go now."

She threw one last look at Ron and thought about all the hurt he had caused this year, and of all the hurt she had caused Harry.

_It's in the past._

Another crack and short trip through whatever space Apparition occupied and Hermione reappeared next to Mister Codnor.

"Great form," he said in a gruff voice. "Now, just Apparate from here to the Three Broomsticks and you'll have your license miss." He looked over into the distance before adding, "If you are nervous, don't be. Think about that license in your hands, you'll feel like an adult you will. There is nothing quite liberating as the knowledge that you can travel anywhere you want. No need for Floo Powder, no need for Portkeys nor brooms! Your parents can't restrict your Floo travel now!" For a tall and burly looking man he was as excited as a young child. Perhaps he was there to give encouragement for the last hop of the course?

"I'm Muggleborn sir," Hermione explained.

"Well then!" he clapped, "No need for those automobiles then eh? No need to spend money on the petrol." He saw the quizzical look he was receiving from Hermione. "My daughter married a Muggle boy, so I know a bit about their autos. Now!" he suddenly thundered, "Go get your license!"

"Yes sir," Hermione replied as she imagined the area just outside the Three Broomsticks when a stray though interrupted her. She looked back at the castle and realized that this is the furthest she'd been from Harry since they had become a couple. It was so silly, she thought, to worry about such a trivial thing. It was just down to the Three Broomsticks for an extended class, she'd be back in the common room and cuddling next to Harry on the couch by late afternoon. She suddenly had the thought that she'd be able to visit Harry when he stayed at the Dursleys. He didn't need to be there all alone did he?

She turned back with a fierce determination in her eyes. _No,_ she thought, _there's no reason I can't visit him when school is out and leave him to those horrid people. I'll visit him, we'll go on our date._

Hermione called up her magic, determination etched on her features as she thought about making Harry's stay at the Dursleys slightly bearable, as she imagined walking around a Muggle neighborhood while holding his hand, eating at a Muggle restaurant, visiting a mall or watching a movie together.

She imagined them kissing.

"I'm ready." She declared, her thought filled with happy thoughts and with a loud crack disappeared.


	14. Dual Spanish Guitars

**AN:** Again and again, thank you for the reviews, the favorites, the story follows. Also thanks for the author favorites and follows, those are cool too.

Book titles are from _Fable 2 _and _The Elder Scrolls._

Also, I'll remind people that I don't own _Harry Potter_ and its characters. If I did Harry and Hermione would be canon among other things.

Double also, YES! I managed to upload this the day before my new class semester starts. **Also, pretty sure my screen name has been changed to Ruinus.**

* * *

**Dual Spanish Guitars**

"Relax Ron, you'll do fine." Fay exclaimed at the Gryffindor table. It was the day of the big Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw match with the Quidditch Cup as the prize and, understandably, the entire Quidditch team was somewhat nervous. Hermione shook her head at it all, but Ron's behavior was the oddest, the way he was muttering Quidditch plays and tapping his foot it'd be easy to think that he was a first time player when in fact he was one of the best Keepers Hogwarts had seen in a while. She'd seen the records. He blocked 12% more than any previous Keeper. She was about to add in her own encouragement when Fay began speaking again. "Hey by the way, where's HP?"

Ron looked over at Hermione, something he'd taken to doing recently. Whenever someone would ask them where Harry was he'd let her answer even when he knew where Harry was too. "Harry's talking to Professor McGonagall," Hermione answered while motioning over to the head table where Harry was having a heated discussion with Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster.

"Oh, you think he's in trouble?" Fay asked nervously. "Maybe it's got something to do with that run in he had with Malfoy a while ago?"

Hermione nodded. "No," she said as she recalled that memory, "remember that Harry only jinxed Malfoy _after_ Malfoy suddenly pulled a wand on him and started muttering a spell." That incident had been a few days ago. Harry had told her that he heard someone crying in the abandoned girl's bathroom and went to investigate where he'd found Malfoy crying over something and, when Malfoy discovered he was being watched, immediately drew his wand and tried to curse Harry with something that sounded suspiciously like the Crucio curse. Harry had reacted quickly and interrupted with a stunner curse and called for a Professor. "So it can't be that." She continued as she watched the conversation with interest though it was hard to follow the conversation without even being able to hear them over the sounds of a full Great Hall prior to a game.

"McGonagall doesn't look too happy," Ron said after he finished his third plate of breakfast. The whole Gryffindor table turned to look; interested in anything that could potentially affect their Captain right before the big game. "Oy mate, what was that about?" he asked as Harry returned, a determined look on his face.

Harry walked and surveyed his team and nodded to them, "Team meeting in the lockers in 10!" he bellowed out, his team mates either going off straight to the lockers or hurrying up their breakfast eating. Hermione smiled at the sight. She loved seeing Harry in his Captain mode, something about his commanding voice enticed her. Her boyfriend turned and smiled at her before walking over and kissing her on the cheek. "You'll be at the game right?"

"Of course," Hermione huffed before smacking him on the head, "I've always gone to your games when we were best friends, now I get to go to your games as a girlfriend. In fact," she pushed him away as she drew her wand and muttered something while she pointed it at her. Her school robes transfigured into a replica of Harry's Quidditch uniform, POTTER 1 emblazoned on the back. She looked over at him with a sly grin on her face. "You like it?"

"Yes!" Harry said a bit too enthusiastically before going beet red. "I think it's brilliant!" he leaned in again and kissed her on the cheek. "Can I get a good luck kiss my lady?"

"Of course you can my captain," she replied sweetly as she pulled him in to kiss his cheek before hesitating. "Actually, I think my kisses give you bad luck. Last time I kissed you before a Quidditch game you wound up in the hospital wing with a cracked skull."

"I don't know about that," Harry replied as he buried his face in her hair and started inhaling the scent of her perfume, causing Hermione to shudder at the intimate contact. "Last time you gave me your good luck kisses on the cheek I wound up waking up and asking you out on a date. So I think I like those kisses of yours. Keep 'em coming."

"Of course my captain," she happily planted kiss after kiss on his cheeks, ignoring the cat calls and wolf whistles from the nearby students and finished her kissing frenzy with a blushing face and beaming smile. "Good luck." She whispered as he started to walk away and head over to his team, a few of the boys patting him on the back or elbowing him in the ribs. Hermione turned and saw Ron pretending to gag into his plate, somewhat startled by his presence. "Oh, good luck to you too Ron."

"Thanks for realizing I exist," he said with a teasing smile before standing up and following Harry.

"You are just so lame." Fay said beside Hermione. "I never would have figured you to be a girly kissy girl."

"You're one to talk," Lavender said as she approached with Parvati and Clara in tow. "We all remember 4th year when you couldn't even talk to that Hufflepuff you were crushing on."

Hermione turned and smiled at her friends while Fay sputtered next to her, "So should we get going? The game will start soon." The four girls agreed and made their way towards the Quidditch pitch and soon found themselves amidst the rush of students that was headed in the same direction, several of the female students eyeing her with envy. Their glares only made Hermione feel oddly smug. Yes, she was aware that they were looking at her and wishing bad luck on her, perhaps they wanted her to trip and chip a tooth, leading to Harry breaking up with her? Maybe they wanted a terrible potions experiment to blow off all her hair, leading to Harry breaking up with her? There were a thousand things they could be wishing, but at the core of all of their envious glares was the envy that she was Harry Potter's girlfriend, not them. It felt amazing. Before the glares she'd receive were because she was excelling in class and "making some of them look bad" in comparison, or glares from Slytherins that thought it improper that a Muggleborn was attending the same school as Purebloods. Before they'd had glared and looked down on her for one reason or another and now they wanted to _be_ her. She smirked to herself, the girls of Hogwarts would just have to weep because Harry was hers and she wasn't going to let go. She had to admit that her relationship with Harry had done wonders for her self-esteem. Before she could comfort herself with the knowledge that she was hard working and intelligent but the knowledge that someone, in this case her best friend that she was in love with, looked at her as more than just a repository for knowledge was amazing. Of course she'd chide Harry whenever she caught him staring at her but secretly she loved the attention he would heap on her.

"Thinking about Harry." Parvati quipped.

"I'm sorry what?" Hermione asked, realizing with a sinking feeling that she hadn't heard a word her friends had said since they started the trek to the Quidditch field. Lavender, Parvati and Clara started giggling while Fay rolled her eyes, a smile threatening to break out. Hermione's cheeks colored, "I'm sorry, I was thinking about Harry."

"So like I said, I never figured you to be so girly Hermione." Fay once again spoke up before quickly adding, "Look, I'm not saying it's wrong for you to be like this but let's all be honest here, who thought they'd see the day when Hermione would be daydreaming about a boy and wearing his Quidditch jersey?"

Hermione nodded, the other girls looking amongst themselves while they thought the same thing. "I admit," Hermione began slowly, "that most people would think of me as a bookworm and, if anyone had bothered to imagine my love life, would have come to the conclusion that I'd be a spinster. Right?" she looked at Lavender who wouldn't meet her eye while Parvati shifted uncomfortably. "But that's alright." She continued to look at Lavender before breaking out in a smile. "Lavender, I used to think you were an air-headed bimbo who'd snogged every boy in Hogwarts. And I was wrong wasn't I?" Lavender nodded while the other girls laughed. "I suppose I've just… grown up? Or maybe I've discovered a side of me that was hidden up to this point. Maybe the urge to hold the boy I like and kiss him senseless has always been inside of me but since I've never had a boyfriend I'd never been able to do so? I'm still the same person I've always been after all, I'm not acting like this with anyone else."

"I'd like to think," Parvati said, "That you are only like this because of Harry. Had it been anyone else I don't think you'd be planting good luck kisses on their cheek every other moment."

Hermione went pink. "That's very possible." She squeaked, her friends laughing at her response.

They soon entered the Quidditch pitch, the giant sports arena draped in the colors of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, giant banners adorning the walls and towers of the stadium sporting the emblem of the two houses. The stands were nearly full to bursting with hundreds of cheering students holding banners, flags, setting off magical noise makers, holding onto Omnioculars or their Muggle counterparts or happily digging into the food they'd bought from the concession stands. They had to push and shove their way past the crowed as they made their way to the seats usually reserved for the students who were friends with the playing Quidditch teams. Hermione frowned as she saw several girls sporting POTTER jerseys and some of his fan girls again sporting his name emblazoned across their stomachs. She looked down at her own jersey and frowned, since she couldn't actually claim to be the only person wearing one now, nor could she claim hers was real.

She turned to face Lavender when she felt someone nudge her on the shoulder. "They don't get to kiss the real deal," she said with a smile, Hermione's mood lifting considerably. "Now come on, most of the girls in this stadium don't even know Harry so we've got to _CHEER!_" she punctuated her words by jumping up and down and cheering, the rest of their group doing the same. "And you," she said as she finished her cheer, "are Harry Potter's girlfriend. You've got to cheer twice as harder as everyone here! Make sure every girl here knows who he belongs to."

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friends' antics before Luna's dreamy voice started ringing out over the Quidditch pitch.

"Good morning everyone," her voice called out. "I'm Luna Lovegood and I'll be your announcer again," she happily said over the sounds of several people groaning. "This time I actually know most of the names of the players involved. Look, here's the Ravenclaw team now."

Cheers went up as the Ravenclaw Quidditch team burst from their starting gates, blue and bronze streaks flying around in a rather smart formation.

"And here comes the Gryffindor team!" Luna said with clear enthusiasm.

Hermione joined on the cheers when her eyes landed on Harry. Her cheers grew louder in an attempt to get his attention and her efforts were rewarded when he flew over to her. "Hello Harry, my captain."

"Ah," he said with a smile as he hovered next to her, "Is that my new nickname?"

"Do you like it?" Hermione asked as she leaned in closer and kissed him on the cheek.

"I like anything that's said in your voice my lady." He replied smoothly, Hermione's heart fluttering.

"Alright captain, get out there and win this game before we get carried away," Hermione chided.

"I 'spose that's a good idea," Harry shrugged before getting a look of fierce determination on his face. "This game is for you Hermione." He declared in a clear voice, Hermione beaming while her friends giggled next to her and made kissing faces, Parvati pretending to swoon. Harry stole one last good luck kiss from her before flying away with a giant grin on his face.

"The Quidditch teams are meeting in the middle of the field," Luna announced, "Oh look here comes Madam Hooch, and she's telling everyone to play nice. Ravenclaw captain Roger Davies is shaking hands with Gryffindor Captain Harry Potter. I snogged Harry over the Christmas break. He's very good, gentle but firm. Now he's dating Hermione Gra-" Hermione, along with most of the stadium, cringed as a feedback sound suddenly drowned out Luna's voice before stopping suddenly. "Sorry, Professor McGonagall told me to stay on topic. What was the topic? Oh! Madam Hooch is telling the teams to play nice, there goes the snitch! The first team to catch the Snitch wins the game and wins the shiny Quidditch Cup. Aaaaand the game has started!"

Hermione opened her mouth to cheer when Luna's voice rang out again.

"And Harry Potter has caught the Snitch. Gryffindor wins?" Her voice was echoing the confusion on everyone's faces.

Immediately after the game had started Harry had shot upwards like a bat out of hell before suddenly stopping in midair, his hand raised triumphantly over his head, the tiny golden Snitch's wings fluttering madly in his hands. The stadium was deathly quiet, seemingly unable to process the sudden and abrupt conclusion to a very anticipated game, a few of the students looking at each other as they asked if the game was truly over. Hermione, on the other hand, broke out of her stupor first, all she cared about was that Harry had the Snitch and that meant he won the game. She didn't care about the rest.

"WOOOOOOOOO! HARRY! MY CAPTAIN YOU ARE BRILLIANT!" she cheered, her voice ringing out and breaking the silence, echoing across the entire stunned Quidditch pitch. A few heads turned to look at her and, suddenly under the gaze of more people than she'd ever been in her life, Hermione continued to cheer. "GREAT JOB HARRY!" Her enthusiasm suddenly broke the nearby girls out of their own shock and soon Hermione had a group of girls cheering for Harry and throwing him friendly kisses.

"Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!" Luna's voice rang out, setting off the entire stadium with cheers and applause, magical confetti shooting up into the air as everyone got over their surprise and realized that yes, Harry had just finished the final game of the Quidditch tournament in a few seconds. The Gryffindor team suddenly started flying around in a celebratory dance as a few of the Ravenclaw team members started slowly clapping, almost everyone looking at Harry in awe. It wasn't long after that Headmaster Dumbledore, Headmistress McGonagall and Madam Hooch walked over to the middle of the stadium, the silver Quidditch Cup floating along behind them. The Gryffindor team flew down and gathered around them, Harry at the forefront.

"Well!" Dumbledore's Sonorus enhanced voice rang out, "I must say I've never seen a finer game of Quidditch!" Roars of approval went up all across the stadium. "It is my pleasure to confirm that Gryffindor has won this year's Hogwarts Quidditch Tournament in the game against Ravenclaw at 150 to 0!" More cheers erupted, Hermione cheering along with the crowd. "Madam Hooch has also informed me that the total game time was 4.8 seconds meaning that the Gryffindor team has just set a world record!" More applause and cheering went up, Hermione's voice nearly giving out with all the cheering she'd been doing. "And now I present the Gryffindor team with the Quidditch Cup!" Hermione watched with pride in her heart as Harry took the gleaming silver trophy from Dumbledore's hands before he was hefted up onto the shoulders of Peakes and Coote where he was able to proudly display the Cup for all to see as he was carried out of the Quidditch pitch.

"Wow," Lavender said beside Hermione, "I really wasn't expecting that."

Fay was gushing to Clara about the world record for Fastest Game being broken by a full 20 seconds Parvati was simply smiling in excitement. "Come on!" the dark skinned girl exclaimed, "Let's get to the party already!"

The girls hurried back to the castle, passing by several people who were talking excitedly about the game, only a few of them grumbling about the long walk to and from the Quidditch pitch for only 5 seconds of game. Along the way they'd also run into Luna, who told Hermione to congratulate Harry for her before skipping away.

They reached the Gryffindor tower where the sounds of a raging party were audible throughout the halls that led to the common room. Hermione and the girls stepped through the portal to the common room, streamers and banners hanging from walls and Replenishing Confetti constantly falling from the ceiling. The partiers were getting snacks and drinks from a food table that had been set up against one of the walls of the common room, a few enchanted trays floating about carrying appetizers or refilling drinks. Hermione had to pause and wonder how the party had been set up so quick, both the food and drink and the people themselves since the Quidditch team only had a few minutes head start on the rest of the students. _The wonders of magic,_ she mused.

Almost immediately Harry made his way over to her, an amazing smile on his face. He reached out for her hand and pulled her aside to a one of the only quiet corners of the common room. As soon as she could she threw her arms around him and hugged him as strongly as she could before planting several kisses on his cheek and forehead as she congratulated him between kisses.

"Here," Harry said as he handed her the caught Snitch, it's wings fluttering softly. "This is yours, I won this game for you."

She took the winged orb from his hand, her heart fluttering at the gesture.

"Also, I want you to revert your robes back and take them off." He added.

"Harry!" she yelled before swatting his arms, "Don't think because you've broken some world record that I'm going to take off my robes at the drop of a-Oh, you didn't mean _all_ my robes did you?"

Hermione went beet red as she once again managed to embarrass herself by misconstruing his words, his laughter clearly audible through the roar of the party. "No, no!" he said as he calmed down, "I mean the jersey, I was hoping you'd like to have the real one?" he motioned to his uniform. "I should have worded it better."

"Yes you should have." Hermione hissed as muttered the spell to revert a transfigured piece of clothing to its original shape and design, her POTTER jersey morphing back into her regular school robes which she promptly shrugged off, leaving her in the vest and white blouse that was worn underneath the robes. She looked over at Harry, who was standing in his leather under-armor and shirt, his jersey held in his hands and reached over to take the gift from him. She beamed as she took it into her hands before hurriedly putting it on. "How do I look?" she asked him before performing a quick spin, the tail of the jersey fluttering around as she did so.

"I think you look wonderful," Harry said as he captured her in a hug, one of his hands running through her hair as he did so, chills running down Hermione's spine. "Stunning even. Almost as good as you did at the Yule Ball."

"Stunning is a big word Harry," Hermione said.

"And you're a smart girl, smart girls use big words all the time." Harry replied back, "Trust me, you are stunning."

"Really?" she whispered as she threw her arms around his him and nuzzled his neck, "You mean I don't have to spend my entire allowance on fancy dresses to look stunning for you?"

"My lady," he said as he held her, "You'd look stunning in anything." He planted a kiss on the side of her face, "Like your new nickname?"

"Of course I do my captain," she purred, feeling immensely comfortable in his embrace. "I know this party is for you, but can we stay like this?" she asked as she started swaying to the music from the party.

"Of course." Harry replied has he gently moved with her.

Hermione never thought she'd be able to happily sway in someone's embrace throughout a party, but found that she was doing just that with Harry. They were silent for several minutes as they simply drank in each other's presence, their embrace never faltering or becoming uncomfortable.

"I like when we study together," Harry suddenly blurted out, Hermione looking up at him in confusion. "What I mean is, I enjoy it. This year has been… weird, we weren't speaking like we used to while you were chasing after Ron and I was, uh, doing nothing. We didn't enjoy each other's company as much as we used to, but now that we do I realize that I like studying with you. I like it a lot." Hermione wondered where this was coming from but held her tongue and let him speak his mind. "I'll be honest Hermione, this year you changed when you chased after Ron," she tensed up in his embrace for a second, she didn't like being reminded that she had turned petty and vindictive but didn't cut him off. After all he'd been hurt the most out of the three of them and deserved the right to call her on her behavior. "You weren't," Harry continued, his voice unsure. "I don't know, you weren't the you that I grew up with. You weren't studying as much, you were plotting some way to get Ron to notice you, or sending mean glares at Lavender, or nagging at my use of the Prince's book or… or blowing me off in favor of Smith. You weren't "book Hermione" if that makes any sense to you." Hermione nodded against his chest, keenly aware that her grades had suffered a little while she pined after Ron, aware that her behavior was completely unlike her usual demeanor. "But now my "book Hermione" is back," Harry resumed with an upbeat tone. "And I like that a lot. I don't know about anyone else, but I always liked the bossy know-it-all bookworm you. Sure, you got on my nerve a few times and I'm sure I gave you a few headaches too, but I liked that about you. You've also shown me something new, the Hermione that covers me in kisses, that blushes when I try flirting with her, that falls for my cheesy lines." Hermione stifled a laugh against his chest. "I like that Hermione too. Can I keep this Hermione and "book Hermione" and forget about "mean jealous Hermione"? Because I don't want to see that version again."

Hermione looked up at him with tears in her eyes before gently pulling him down and kissing him everywhere she could think of sans lips. She rested her head against his shoulder again before planting a soft kiss against his neck. "I promise you won't see her ever again Harry," she said in a tiny voice.

"That's great." Harry's voice was slightly choked up which did nothing to Hermione's guilt. She leaned in and planted another butterfly kiss on his neck.

_I love you Harry Potter._

Harry stifled a laugh, causing her to look up. "What is it?" she asked.

"When you kiss me there," Harry said as he calmed down, "It tickles."

Hermione grinned and planted a few more butterfly kisses along his neck. "This tickles you?" she said, his slight jumps and goose bumps appearing along his skin giving her an answer. "Well my captain, it looks like I'm learning all of your weaknesses." She giggled as she held on to him, pecking his neck a few more times.

"Well, I think I know one of your weaknesses my lady," Harry teased right back.

"I don't think my love of books will help you get back at me right now," Hermione said smugly before suddenly being pushed against the nearby wall, the arm he had snaked around her waist tightening its hold on her. Hermione's breathing hitched as Harry rested his head against hers, his forehead and nose touching hers, his breath making her skin crawl in a good way. His eyes were closed so she couldn't even guess at his thoughts. "Harry?" she said in a shaky voice, wondering if he was going to kiss here there and then. She knew that people would usually kiss in the wake of a great celebration, and Harry setting a world record might just give him the top-of-the-world feeling that told him to just kiss her or snog her. And, if she was honest, he had told her that he had won the game for her; maybe he had set the record for her too? He'd given her the Snitch he'd set the record with, given her the jersey he'd worn when he set the record. He was wonderful, loyal, brave, charming when he wanted to be, sweet and caring. Her best friend and the love of her life.

If he wanted their first kiss to be here, in the common room celebrating an amazing victory over Ravenclaw, coming down from the high of setting a world record then that's where their first kiss would be. Because, if she was honest with herself, she'd love telling this story to anyone who would listen... "Did you know our first kiss was after Harry set a world record?" she'd say.

"I really want to kiss you Hermione," Harry whispered against her, Hermione's body temperature skyrocketing and her knees going weak. "I'd love to, in fact. Right now, just lean in a bit more and kiss you," he said in a whisper, Hermione leaning in and trying to capture his lips when he suddenly felt him pull back out of their embrace, a giant smug grin on his face. "But you said you'd like to wait until our first date, so that's what I'll do. I'm going to go get something to drink do you want anything?" he asked in a completely normal voice.

Hermione stared at him dumbly, her entire body blushing and her breathing erratic, her eyes locked on his lips and nodded and agreed with whatever it was he was saying. Only when he turned away and headed to the table holding all the drinks did her mind start back up and she huffed. _Of all the underhanded, teasing stunts he has to pull!_ She tried glaring at his back as he moved through the crowd but found that her heart simply wasn't in it. Her eyes momentarily trailed off of Harry as she looked around the party for the first time since she'd arrived. Lavender, Parvati and Clara were standing in one corner eating and talking and giggling, they caught her looking at them and waved, Parvati making a show of fanning herself, Lavender shooting Hermione a knowing smirk while Clara simply beamed at her. Across the way was Fay as she talked Quidditch and continued to gush with Katie and Demelza and Jimmy. Fay also noticed Hermione's gaze and threw her a giant thumbs up, shouting "WORLD RECORD!" at the top of her lungs, the entire party joining in her cheer as another round of applause went up for Harry.

She saw Harry go red at the praise and Ron walked over to him and threw an arm around him as they both made their way back to Hermione.

"You believe it?" Ron said, "We'll be in Quidditch books for ages mate! Hogwarts Gryffindor Team '96 to '97, World Record of… OY!" he turned to the party again, Harry wincing at the close yell while Hermione simply rolled her eyes at her friend's enthusiasm. "OY! What was the game time?" he asked with a yell.

"4.8 SECONDS!" the party yelled, whoops of joy once again leaving everyone nearly deaf.

"You know," Harry said after handing Hermione her drink which she greedily drank down in an effort to cool herself off, "being on the team that broke a world record could be great for you Ron, maybe the Chudley Cannons will come knocking?"

Ron suddenly went weak in the knees, Hermione laughing as her friend found the nearest chair to sit on as his head started swimming with thoughts of playing with his favorite Quidditch team of all time. Harry simply grinned and rolled his eyes. Hermione continued to look over the room when her eyes landed on Ginny. She'd been keeping to herself recently, though Hermione suspected that this was because she had been in rough waters with her relationship with Dean rather than out of some understanding that she couldn't have Harry. The two of them met gazes and both frowned, the stare down broken when Ginny turned away.

"Ginny is still," Harry said uncertainly, "she's still… uh,"

"Pining over you?" Hermione offered, "Yes. She is."

"I see." Harry said in a serious tone before turning to Ron, who was still sitting down from lightheadedness. "Mate, we'll be right back."

"Wha-oh yeah. Go do what you have to mate." Ron said as seriously as he could. "She's my little sister though so… Well, never mind. She won't leave it alone if you don't lay down the law." He said as he stood up and took a long drink from his juice, "That's how my dad always got her to back down from something."

Hermione watched as Ron walked over to his friends before turning to Harry. She slightly nudged her head over in Ginny's direction and he nodded, a deep sigh escaping his lips, his eyes telling her that he wasn't looking forward to this. He smiled as she finally prepped himself up and offered his hand which she gladly took. They walked over to Ginny with purpose, a few people moving away from what they realized might likely turn into a full on confrontation. Ginny turned as she heard them move over to her, her eyes falling on Harry first and looking him up and down with an appreciative look before frowning at Hermione, obviously displeased at their hand holding.

"Hello Harry," she said sweetly as she moved a bit closer to him, Hermione bristling at the display.

"Ginny," she said in the calmest tone she could muster while the younger girl nearly threw herself at Harry, "we have to talk."

"About?" Ginny prodded testily.

"Ginny, you know what this is about." Hermione was rapidly losing her patience. "Everyone knows about your long standing crush on Harry, it's not as if it's a secret. It's also not a secret that you've been flirting with Harry throughout the entire year. Now, I didn't have a problem with that back then but Harry is _my_ boyfriend now and I'd appreciate it if you didn't try flirting with my boyfriend." She paused as she noticed a few people trying to eavesdrop on their conversation and nodded at Harry, who cast a privacy charm around them. "Now Ginny, I don't want this to turn ugly and I'd like to-"

"Oh you don't want to turn this ugly?" Ginny asked snarkily, "Because as I see it it's someone who I thought was a friend stealing a boy I had a crush on since I was little! So tell me how this isn't ugly already."

"And I see a girl in a relationship hurting her boyfriend by flirting with another boy who is also in a relationship, so perhaps I wasn't the one who turned this ugly." Hermione shot right back, Ginny flinching slightly as she was reminded of her less than faithful behavior towards Dean. "Ginny, I know you've had a crush on Harry since you were little but," Hermione continued, "you've _never_ had any claim to him. He's my boyfriend and your repeated attempts to steal him away from me stop now."

"Boyfriend is he?" Ginny questioned as she took a step towards Hermione, "You two snogged?" she asked smugly, Hermione and Harry both caught off guard by the question. "I don't think you have; don't think you've even been on a date! So that means Harry is still free to change his mind if he wishes and-"

"No." Harry interrupted, his voice loud and firm. "No it doesn't Ginny. Hermione is my girlfriend, she's my best friend. I've chosen _her_ not you, not Luna, not Cho. It doesn't matter if we haven't been on our first date or had our first kiss because never in a million years will I leave Hermione for you or anyone else."

"You don't have to fake it Harry," Ginny said while scowling at Hermione. "Just because she couldn't get my brother doesn't mean you have to take pity on her and pretend to be with her. Maybe you feel sorry for her because she's never gotten any attention from boys, but you and I and even she knows that you can do better than her, so wh-"

"Ginny!" Harry snapped, startling both Hermione and the red-head. "I don't want to hear another word! Between Hermione and you _there is no contest._" The two girls looked at him in shock, Hermione never imagining him speaking so harshly to a girl, much less Ginny. She didn't feel it was appropriate to smile or hug him at the moment, but gave his hand a little squeeze to tell him that she appreciated his words. Hermione looked back at Ginny who seemed incredibly tiny and withdrawn. Evidentially Harry noticed her change in demeanor because Hermione felt his body ease up. "Look Ginny, you're a friend and I-"

"Save it." Ginny interrupted as she looked at Hermione. "Fine," she said in a small voice. "You win." She then turned and walked away, going up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and leaving the party completely.

Hermione stood and looked at the door to the dormitory as she wondered if this was really the end of Ginny's behavior. Hermione knew Ginny was stubborn and prone to having her way, knew that she had been mustering up the courage to pursue Harry for years now and wondered if she would give up the chase so easily. Hermione had honestly expected Ginny to break out the Bat-Boogey Hex and start to literally fight over Harry or, at the very least, expected Ginny to rant and rave and put up a heated verbal argument that would draw the attention of the entire common room. Instead Harry had put his foot down and almost immediately Ginny gave up. _Maybe that's why,_ she thought as she glanced at Harry, _Harry's the one with the final say. He decides who he dates or doesn't' date and when he told her that he wasn't interested in her that was the end of it._ Hermione idly realized that she was the same. Had Ron come out and said "No Hermione, I've chosen Lavender, not you." she most certainly would have not pursued him at all for the first half of the year. _It's hard to pursue someone who tells you that they have someone better._

"Could have gone better…" Harry muttered.

"It could have, and a part of me does feel a bit bad." Hermione said, Harry looking at her in surprise. "A small part of me does feel like I stole you from her but only a _small_ part. I'm not going to cry over the fact that she's upset that her plan to get you to leave me failed. She deserves to feel bad with what she was doing to Dean."

"Dean is a pretty cool guy," Harry said slowly, "He's been looking down ever since she dumped him."

"Yes he is and yes he has," Hermione agreed, "But frankly he deserves better than a girl who'll pursue another boy while being with him. I'm sure he'll get over it. But I don't want to talk about this anymore ok Harry?" she pleaded, "This is supposed to be a nice, happy party celebrating your giant victory. Let's not turn it sour by fretting over Ginny. So, my captain, I'd appreciate it if you could hold me again." She snuggled up to Harry as she felt his arms wrap around her again, his head resting atop hers. "You know," Hermione said uncertainly, "She's right. You could have any girl in Hogwarts,"

"Hermione," Harry sighed.

"-Any girl in the wizarding world really." She went on.

"Hermione," he said in a firmer tone. "I'll tell you what I just told Ginny, between you and all the other women in the world there _is no contest._"

Hermione nodded against his chest, his words calming her down more than he knew. Ginny's words cut straight at one of her insecurities, that being her self-image. She felt Harry plant a kiss on her forehead, brushing her hair as he held her.

"Hermione, my lady, you are stunning. Don't forget that." He whispered.

"And you, my captain," Hermione whispered, "are amazing. Thank you." She melted into his embrace and the two spent the rest of the party in each other's embrace, people occasionally coming up to Harry and giving him one last word of congratulation before they went their own way. Hermione fell asleep in Harry's arms she was so comfortable, but was nudged awake when Harry pointed out that everyone was leaving the party and that it was nearly 1 in the morning. Hermione looked around the room, seeing a few stragglers here and there having last minute conversations before heading to their respective dormitories, a few students asleep on the couches or chairs scattered about.

"It was a nice party," Harry murmured half-asleep. "I got to hold the prettiest witch in the world the entire time."

"Hush you," Hermione half-heartedly replied, unable to hold back her grin. "It's time you go off to bed, you are speaking nonsense now."

"What if we just fall asleep in each other's arms?" Harry said while looking around, "We could take one of those chairs."

"As tempting as that sounds I'd rather not wake up tomorrow with horrible back and neck cramps. Go to bed Harry." She reached up and softly kissed his cheek, "You did great today my captain, get some rest." The two finally separated, albeit reluctantly so, and made their way to their respective dormitories.

Hermione fell asleep wearing Harry's jersey while Harry's snitch fluttered above her in lazy circles.

The next day Hermione still had a beaming smile on her face as she sat next to Harry in the Great Hall, the entire Gryffindor table groggily eating their breakfast as the effects of a late night or, in some cases, sleeping on a chair or the common room floor took their toll on them. Hermione looked over at Harry with a smug expression and mouthed "See?" while motioning to most of her fellow Housemates, eliciting a good natured grumble from Harry.

She looked over and saw Lavender, Parvati and Clara make their way over to her, Lavender covering a yawn with her hand while Parvati chatted about something before nodding to her and sitting near them, Ron shifting uncomfortably in close proximity to his ex-girlfriend.

"Hello Hermione, Harry," Lavender said before looking over at their red-headed friend, "Ron."

"Hello Lavender, Parvati, Clara," Hermione greeted as she spread jam over her toast, "You all look like you got enough sleep, unlike some of us." Ron stared down at his plate, the bags under his eyes clearly noticeable.

"I'm not much for parties," Clara said as she reached for the pumpkin juice, "These two didn't stay out late, which surprised me," she teased Lavender and Parvati, "but Fay! I think she's going to miss the carriages to Hogsmeade, she'll have to walk there on her own."

Hermione tensed up and looked over at Harry, she'd completely forgotten that this was a Hogsmeade weekend! He looked at her with a sorry expression and her heart fell, she had hoped that he'd offer to stay with her during the Hogsmeade trips but it seemed as if he was going to leave her behind. Her face fell when he reached over and took her hand.

"Hermione, I'm sorry but I kinda have to go I have to go today."

"Oh," Hermione said as she tried to make her disappointment. "I see. Where, I mean can I ask where you're going to be at least?"

"You'll be proud actually," Harry said in a hopeful tone, "I'm going to Tomes and Scrolls to pick up a few books for self-study. I'll pick up something for you."

"Self-study?" Hermione asked as she felt a bit of pride for Harry, she narrowed her eyes at him and looked in straight in the eye. He fidgeted under her scrutinizing gaze but realized he was being truthful which helped abate her sadness at being left in the castle. Had he been off roaming Hogsmeade and spending time at Spintwitches or Honeydukes she'd have been mad but she couldn't complain if he was up to some self-study. She smiled in an effort to tell him she was fine with him going before an idea sprung to her mind. "Ok Harry, while you are there can you pick up some books for me?" She ignored Ron's sudden cough from across the table. "It's a short list really, I'm interested in _Giles' Manuscript_ by Griflet Whittle, _A Perilous Adventure, Gold Edition _by Winifred Craggius, though Silver Edition is fine too a-are you writing this down Harry?" she huffed.

"I'll remember." Harry replied as she looked over at Ron and kicked him under the table.

"Good," Hermione said, realizing she was somewhat punishing him for leaving her for the day. But if she was going to be left alone in the common room or library at least she'd get some new books out of it. "_Lithnilian's Research Notes_ by Lithnilian, don't worry he doesn't' have a last name, the clerk should be able to help you with that one, _ The Alchemist's Formulary_ by Mary Dippet and _Fundaments of Alchemy_ by Samson Dent."

Lavender giggled, "Are you going to remember all that Harry?" she teased at the boy who had a blank look on his face.

"Of course!" Harry replied immediately before raising his cup to his lips and muttering "Probably." Lavender and Parvati laughed at his task while Hermione simply patted his hand. "I know some of those books though," he said, surprising Hermione. "The last few books are all potions books, trying to regain your top spot in Potions my lady?"

Hermione scoffed and looked away from Harry's smirking face. "I don't know what you are talking about." She said blandly, Harry laughing beside her. The rest of breakfast passed by, the girls chatting while Ron and Harry talked Quidditch. Halfway through the meal Fay ran down into the Great Hall, her hair still wet, as she berated Clara for not waking her up earlier, Clara pointing out that she tried waking her up for ten straight minutes before giving up. The breakfast meal ended shortly after and Dumbledore announced that the carriages to Hogsmeade were leaving in a few minutes which caused most of the students to stand up and start leaving the Hall. Harry stood up along with the rest of the students and offered his hand to Hermione.

"Walk with me to the exit?" he asked, his face struggling to hide the guilt he felt. Hermione could tell he felt bad about leaving her behind so simply nodded and took his hand. He traced circles on her hand with his thumb, walking incredibly close next to her all the while. "Luckily Tomes and Scrolls is having a sale right now," he commented as they walked towards the exit, "Otherwise there'd be no way I'd be able to afford all those books."

Hermione's eyes bulged, "Harry! How are you going to pay for them? You know what, you can forget those books. I was just being silly and having you on."

"Oh that's fine," Harry muttered, stiffening slightly as he saw Professor McGonagall up ahead. "Hello Professor," he said evenly while staring straight at her, Hermione wondering why they seemed to be trying to stare each other down.

"Mister Potter, Miss Granger," the Headmistress greeted while looking at the two of them, scrutinizing every inch of them, her eyes finally falling on their joined hands. Hermione was about to speak up and explain that she was simply escorting Harry to the exit when the Headmistress nodded to the both of them. "Enjoy your trip to Hogsmeade," she said in a clipped tone.

"Professor?" Hermione question while Harry smiled and moved to keep going.

"Come on Hermione, before she changes her mind," Harry urged while he pulled her along.

It was only until they boarded a carriage, finding Ron and Luna already sitting inside, that Hermione turned to Harry and demanded an explanation.

"Well, before the game yesterday I went to Professor McGonagall and asked if there was any way she'd let you out of the castle today." Hermione nodded, remembering the heated argument he was having at the staff table yesterday. "Well, I wasn't getting anywhere by asking her to give you a break so I told her that if you weren't allowed on today's trip that I wouldn't be playing."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed, looking over at Ron who seemed to be just as shocked as she was.

"_Obviously_ that didn't happen, so there's no need for both of you to get your wands in a twist," He said, preempting their words. "So, seeing as how we weren't getting anywhere Dumbledore asked if we'd both like to wager a bet. If I won the match in less than a minute Professor McGonagall would allow you out today."

"And if you lost?" Luna asked from behind her copy of _The Quibbler._

"Oh, I didn't lose so it doesn't matter," Harry said nonchalantly. "So!" He turned in his seat and looked Hermione dead in the eye while gathering both of her hands in his. "My lady," he said in a whisper and he leaned closer to her, "Welcome to our first date."

"What?!" Hermione asked, completely taken by surprise. "Are you se-you are aren't you? But Harry, I'm not dressed properly, I wasn't expecting to, I mean look at me!" she huffed, somewhat angry at her state of dress, simple comfort clothing for the weekend. Had she known today was going to be a special day she could have at least put a bit more of an effort into her clothing.

Harry leaned in an ran an arm along her side, Hermione shuddering as his hand landed on her hip and moved up her side, his caress turning gentler as he ran his hand up her neck and cupped her cheek. She saw his eyes roam over her body with appreciation, a smile on his lips.

"I've told you before my lady," he whispered as he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. "You always look stunning."

"And you," Hermione replied with a shaky voice as her heart fluttered in her chest, "are shameless."

"Ha!" Harry laughed, "I'm glad you like it although I have to tell you that I'm running out of all the lines I can use on you. I'll have to think up more."

"Ron, are you sick? Did Floundering Wiggots infest your stomach?" Luna's soft voice broke the couple out of their private moment, Hermione looking over at Ron as he hung his head out the side of the carriage.

"Oh Merlin," he groaned, "I've never wanted a carriage ride to end so fast in my life."

A few minutes later Ron got his wish as the carriages pulled up to the entrance of Hogsmeade village, several other carriages already unloading their students. Hermione's group met up with the other girls as they talked about their plans, Hermione's dorm mates squealing when they realized that Harry was taking Hermione on their first, and her first, date. They said words of encouragement to her while Harry was talking to Ron and Luna though Hermione had to admit that some of the advice she was getting from Parvati would be more useful on a wedding night than on a first date. A few short embarrassing moments later the group split up, Ron going off to Spintwitches to meet up with Seamus and Dean while Fay and Clara headed to the Three Broomsticks to meet some other friends. Luna surprised both Harry and Hermione by saying she was going with Lavender and Parvati to Helga's Handicrafts to pick up materials needed to hand make the bracelets, earrings and necklaces the three were going to start making.

Hermione was left with Harry, who couldn't seem to wipe his smile off of his face.

"I admit it Potter," Hermione joked, "You really made the set up to this date rather extravagant, no faster way to sweep a girl off her feet than by setting a world record to get a first date with her. I am impressed."

"That's great!" Harry exclaimed happily, squeezing her hand gently in his own, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Because you, Hermione Granger, are the most impressive girl I have ever laid eyes on. You deserve to be swept off your feet."

"Harry!" she swatted his arm, his compliments never failing to make her feel lightheaded or color her cheeks. "I must say that I would have never figured you to be so… suave."

Harry shrugged, his smile never faltering. "Well Sirius and Remus always told me that my dad was a ladies man," he said, Sirius' name easily rolling off of his tongue, "So I figure that I get this "suave" from him."

Hermione snorted as they started walking hand in hand, "Don't let it go to your head, you aren't exactly known as a lady killer around the school."

Harry nodded sheepishly, "I admit, I've never had a great track record with girls,"

"Except Luna," Hermione said with a grin.

"Except her," Harry nodded, "So maybe all of the charm I inherited from my dad is just aimed and concentrated at you?" He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, keeping his head pressed against hers, his mouth right next to her lips. "Also, you're wrong." He said, his breath tickling her. "A way to sweep a girl off of her feet is to save her from a mountain troll." Hermione swatted him away.

_I wonder if I'll ever be out of blushes._ She thought as Harry laughed at her reaction.

"Admit it, you fell for my charms ever since you met me." Harry teased as they approached Tomes and Scrolls before he squeaked out the best imitation of an eleven year old Hermione. "Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter!"

Hermione swatted his again once again. She'd always be embarrassed that she had fallen for the Boy-Who-Lived myth and had had a moment of pure fan girl when she'd first met Harry. Granted, she had been young, and the impact of meeting such an oft mentioned figure was greatly increased at such a young age, but she had always hoped that Harry would forget her ridiculous first words to him. Harry held open the door as they entered Tomes and Scrolls, the clerk, an old woman named Maribeth greeting Hermione by name. Hermione shyly returned the greeting, ducking her head as Maribeth gave her a knowing smile when she caught sight of their joined hands.

"She knows you by name?" Harry asked as they browsed the Potions section, Harry pulling out one of the books Hermione had requested, Hermione already having found the other three books she was interested in.

"I come in here often, usually when you and Ron are at Spintwitches or Honeydukes. Maribeth took over for her daughter, who own this store, while she goes off on her honeymoon. She recognizes knows several costumers by name."

"I see," Harry said as they moved over to the Charms section and searched around for a book before finally grinning as he drew out a large tome labeled _A Charm for You!_ by Regina Riddletongue, "Great," Harry exclaimed as he looked through the book. "Well, are you set then?" he asked Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione said while she looked at Harry's book, which was easily larger than any of the books she'd picked. "Are you sure you can carry all that?" she asked as he took all of her books and carried them to the counter. "What's that book for Harry? Self-study you mentioned?"

"Oh, I'm not telling you Hermione," he grinned as Maribeth tallied up the total price of 64 Galleons, 1 Sickle and 14 Knuts.

"Harry, that's a lot of money, let me-"

"No Hermione, this is a date and I'm paying for your books." Harry said as he started digging into his money bag.

Hermione huffed, "Harry, don't be ridiculous," she began digging into her own money bag and started counting out her Galleons, "Let me at least pay half of-" She was startled when Harry suddenly placed several Galleons on the counter, looking at her with a winning smile.

"That's enough right ma'am?" he asked.

"Y-yes," the old lady, Hermione noting her look of mirth on her face. "Dear boy, this is 70 Galleons, you only need-"

"Sorry to interrupt ma'am," Harry said as he shrunk the collection of books and stuffed them into his coat pocket before beginning to push Hermione out of the store, "But if I don't leave now she'll argue with me all day about who'll pay!"

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione huffed indignantly, "That was very rude, you go back in and apologiz-"

"You hold on to that one Hermione dearie!" Maribeth yelled out, her voice cutting off as the door to the shop closed shut.

"Are you going to always do that?" Hermione huffed. "I don't need you to pay for me you know, I am perfectly capable of paying my own way thank you."

"I know you can," Harry said as they began walking around once again, "I just can't explain it Hermione. I know you are strong and smart, I know you don't need me to pay for you but, I dunno." He nodded over to the Three Broomsticks, but Hermione shook her head. "When I'm with you I _want_ to buy nice things for you, I want to hold your hand and hug you and kiss you."

Hermione suddenly looked at him, her eyes wide. "You what?"

"Kiss you," Harry said with no embarrassment. "I've wanted to kiss you for a while now. I think you'd be a great kisser."

"W-why would you think that?" Hermione asked, realizing she must look silly being so tongue tied and nervous.

"I figure you've read several books on the subje-ow that kinda hurt." Harry said as he rubbed his arm. "Ah, I think you broke it."

"I'll break more than that if you embarrass me like that again Harry James Potter."

Harry laughed, the sound making Hermione's heart flutter uncontrollably in her chest. His laughter died in his throat as they came across Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Hermione knew of the establishment, it was a tea and coffee shop that catered to couples and, though she'd never been inside, she knew from Clara's description that the inside was decorate with an incredibly tacky style. Hermione realized that while she'd discovered a silly romantic side to herself she'd never be the type of girl who enjoyed frilly ornaments, lacy napkins and china sugar bowls and cups. _But Harry came here on a date last year,_ Hermione thought with dread, _oh no, what if he wants to go in there?_ She slowly turned over to look at him, relief washing over her as she realized he had an equal look of horror on his face. "Let's keep moving." Hermione suggested, Harry nodding immediately and vigorously.

Hermione began shuddering as she struggled to keep her laughter in, losing her grip when Harry turned to look at her. "We both wanted to avoid the Tea Shop like the plague. I'm just remember the look of terror on your face when we stopped outside it." Harry began laughing as he caught on to her point and the two soon found themselves walking along the village proper, away from the busy main streets that held all the shops. They paused momentarily as they simply looked around the unfamiliar scenery, a few of the villagers walking along the peaceful streets and a few small children playing magical games in someone's back yard, two old men playing a magically enchanted guitars somewhere up the road. They found a small bench along one of the streets and sat on it, Hermione scooting up to be as close as she could be to Harry.

"It's odd, Hogsmeade looks so different when you get away from the busy streets," Hermione noted.

"Yeah, easy to forget that there's more to the village than the shops. Easy to forget there's more to it."

"Mmmhm." Hermione murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder when a thought suddenly sprung into her mind. "Oh by the way," she began, "When you were in the hospital because of McLaggen's idiocy, you called me Squirrel." She looked up at him with a curious expression, "Why?"

Harry's eyes bulged out as his face colored, "I did?"

"Yes, and I want an explanation."

"Well…" Harry said, his eyes darting around in an effort to find something more interesting to talk about. "Ok, don't get mad."

"Why would I get mad?" Hermione challenged in a friendly tone.

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "Ok, when we were smaller and we first met… well…" He looked around, Hermione instinctually knowing that he didn't want to continue. "You remember how bushy your hair used to be?" Hermione nodded. "And do you remember how, big your front teeth were?" Hermione nodded again before she gasped.

"You!" she said, smacking him upside the head. "You thought I looked like a squirrel!" she accused, Harry immediately bowing his head before giving her a small nod.

"Yes but," Harry rushed to his own defense, "I didn't think it in a bad way! I actually sort of, kinda, liked your big front teeth." Hermione scoffed in disbelief. "It's true. I thought they looked cute and I didn't mind your hair as much as you seemed to. Besides, I only thought of you as Squirrel for a few weeks…"

Hermione huffed, though it was mainly for show. She was secretly pleased that Harry had found her cute when they were younger, it helped her somewhat to know that while others made fun of her hair and her two front teeth someone appreciated them. Even if it was an eleven year old. "Well, I think I'd prefer being called "my lady" rather than "Squirrel".

"What about Squirrely?" he quipped.

"Stick to "my lady", your life will be easier."

A few moments passed before Harry spoke up again, moments he presumably used to get over his embarrassment.

"Tell me when you get hungry Hermione," Harry said as he began playing with her hair, "So we can go to the Three Broomsticks or Honeydukes or… the Hog's Head?"

"If you don't mind Harry," Hermione said, "I think I'd prefer to stay here."

"Really?" Harry asked, confused at her reply. "You don't want our first date to be… a bit more lively?"

"There aren't any books on this subject," Hermione said, relishing her own joke, "I know, I've looked. I think that each relationship is different and so different people will enjoy different things. And I am quite enjoying this. I'm sitting here with you, enjoying your company, holding you close; no one is going to interrupt us with a question about Arithmancy or Quidditch, no assignments we have to work through, nowhere to be but here. Two elderly men are playing a rather calming song, I hear the sounds of some children laughing and I'm with you Harry. My captain." She closed her eyes, finding Harry's shoulder immensely comfortable. "I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous too." She felt Harry momentarily pause as he played with her hair before continuing, her comment seemingly confusing him. "I'm nervous when we get near Madam Puddifoot's. I didn't want to go in there with you because I'm… I've never been in a relationship Harry. I've had my small fancies, and before this the closest I've had to a date was at the Yule Ball with Viktor and that had more of a friendly atmosphere. But this? What you and I have right now? This is all so new to me, it's exciting. I feel like I felt when I discovered I was a witch and that there was a whole new world out there for me to explore. It makes me feel great and happy and giddy. And nervous." She paused momentarily as she felt Harry's free hand fall on hers, his fingers gently rubbing her knuckles. She smiled against his shoulder. "Harry, let's be honest, I've never been a stereotypical girl. I'd rather curl up with a book in a nice comfortable room with some hot cocoa than go out to a party wearing an expensive dress. I know, as much as you or Ron will deny it, that I'm not exactly fun. I can't crack jokes like you or Ron can, I'm never the life of a party, I'll never be the one to suggest playing Quidditch, riding a broom, going to a theme park. And because I'm nervous I'm a bit scared. I worry that you'll laugh at my idea of an ideal date, just enjoying each other's company. Maybe on some other date," she began hesitantly, Harry's slight nod sending her heart fluttering and giving her the courage to continue. "Maybe on some other date I'll be more comfortable and I'll be able to go out with you and have a nice romantic dinner without having some nervous breakdown because I don't know how to act, but right now I'm happy where I am. A bookstore, five new books to read, sitting on a bench and just holding you. Let's just stay here and talk?"

Harry nodded before he pressed a kiss to her forehead, inhaling the scent of her shampoo as he lingered so close to her.

"I'm nervous too," Harry said before pausing. Hermione leaned closer and kissed his neck, causing him to slightly jump in her embrace. "I'm nervous too. The last date I had at Puddifoot's went terribly. But… well, let me finish before you start hitting my arm here," he said in a teasing voice, "With Cho I felt incredibly tense in there. Being in that setting, with all those other people snogging around us, put a pressure on us that I didn't care for. I think that's why my date with her failed. Not because I left halfway through it to find you and take that interview with Seeker, but because she knew I didn't want to be there. I learned from that, uh, experience, that you should take things at your own pace. And this pace is fine by me. I mean, aren't dates supposed to be about being with the person you fancy? Sitting and talking and being alone with that person sounds like a good date to me. So, we are doing great so far right?"

"Yes we are my captain," Hermione said sweetly, his own thoughts on the matter making her feel better.

"Yeah," Harry said with more conviction. "You know you are right Hermione, this date is going amazingly so far. I think a lot of guys would be jealous that, on my first date with a girl, she _wanted_ to stay in my arms all day!"

Hermione laughed, his levity lifting her spirits. She leaned up and traced several kisses along his neck, laughing in between each peck. They laughed even harder when she heard a few of the nearby children exclaiming in disgust, one small boy making a face and exclaiming "Ewww, they're kissing each other!" Their laughter died down a few minutes later, Harry wiping tears from his eyes as they settled back into their embrace, Hermione reaching up to play with Harry's hair. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Hermione realized that Harry was falling asleep because of her caresses.

"You know," he said lazily, his eyes struggling to stay open, "I admire you Hermione, you're so smart and brave. I want to be more like you."

The sincerity of his words touched her, Hermione moved to look at him and noted that he'd fallen asleep. She sighed as she leaned back into him and wondered if it was possible to fall further in love with him. A few minutes of resting peacefully against his chest, feeling his hear beat and hearing his breathing relaxed Hermione more and she soon found herself falling asleep against him.

_A short kip should be fine…_

"Hermione? Hermione wake up."

"Harry, what?" Hermione asked as she woke up from her short nap.

"Hermione, it's four in the afternoon!" Harry whispered, Hermione's eyes immediately shooting open.

"What?" she asked, "We've been asleep for seven hours?" She made to stand up when she noticed she was covered in an emerald green blanket which, she noted, immediately reminded her of Harry's eyes. She looked up at Harry with a questioning look.

"It was on us when I woke up," he replied, clearly having no clue where the blanket came from. They looked around, noting that the children where no longer around while the two old men at the end of the road still continued to play their guitars, a woman having joined them as she sang something that neither of them could recognize. That group was too entranced with their own business to notice Harry or Hermione's questioning look. "Maybe," Harry pondered, "someone saw us asleep and just decided to give us something to keep us warm? We do have a bit of snow on us so maybe…"

"You are probably right," Hermione said as she wrapped the blanket around herself like an oversized shawl. She had been feeling the effects of the cold more than Harry had since she hadn't dressed for Hogsmeade weather. "I just wish I knew who left it for us to thank them, or return it to them."

"Yeah," Harry said absentmindedly while he looked at her. "It looks good on you."

"Thank you," she replied sweetly before looking around. "Do you think we should head back? The carriages leave in a few hours."

"In a bit," Harry said as he looked over in the direction of the two old men and woman. "Let's go over there, they seem friendly enough, yeah?"

Hermione nodded, the music having caught her attention too. She linked hands with her date as they walked over to the group, one of the older men nodding to them as they approached.

"G'day young'ins," he drawled, "Been cozy o'er there all day. Date?"

Hermione nodded, squeezing Harry's hand. "First date."

The old man's eyebrows rose, "Seem awf'ly close for first date you too." The man next to him nodding while the old woman beamed at them.

"We've been best friends for six years," Harry supplied.

"And here I was," the old woman beamed, "thinking all the romance was gone from the world." She shot the two a giant smile, revealing that a few of her teeth were missing, though the joy on her face more than made up for that fact.

"I never thought my captain here could be so romantic," Hermione admitted while Harry grinned. "He says he gets it from his father."

"I'm Harry, and my lady here is Hermione," Harry introduced the two.

"I'm Jethro, this old lady here is my old lady, Annie, and this old coot next to me is my best friend, Sam. Don't take it personally if he ain't sayin' much, he's mute." He reached over and offered his hand, Harry and Hermione shaking it before shaking the hands of the other two. "So," he said, "I'm sure you young'ins have got bettah things t'do than see us old farts right?" Annie nodded next to him, her eyes looking incredibly young as she fawned over the young couple.

"Well," Harry said, "we've been hearing you play all day and you seemed friendly enough, so we thought about hearing you up close."

Hermione nodded before turning to Annie, "And you sing wonderfully ma'am, though I don't recognize the song."

"You probably wouldn't," Annie said, "Since it's in Spanish. I'm originally from Mexico," she offered in explanation, "I moved here when I was little, met Jethro and Sam in Hogwarts one day."

Jethro laughed, the action amusing Hermione. For some reason she always found the elderly laughing to make her smile. "And Ah've nevah been able to get rid o' her since then!" Sam mutely laughed alongside him while Annie glared at the both of them.

"So, you want to hear us play?" Annie said as she gave her husband one last glare, Harry and Hermione nodding uncertainly. "Alright, it's going to be in Spanish but I think you'll understand the song." She looked over at the two elderly men as they calmed down and adjusted their guitars, nodding to each other before playing an upbeat melody, Annie joining in with her singing voice a few moments later.

Though she didn't understand a shred of it, Hermione began to hum along with the melody the song. She had to admit that she was a bit surprised by how well the two old men played and how powerful and emotional Annie's voice sounded. The lyrics sounded upbeat and, judging from the looks Annie would give them while she sand, she could guess that it was some sort of romance song. She looked over at Harry to see him starting to swing their joined hands before he turned to face her, a grin on his face. He took her other hand in his and started swinging her arms.

"Harry," she laughed, his attempts to get her dancing somewhat childish. "If you want to dance you can just ask."

"I prefer this way." He said as he began moving, Hermione laughing as she moved closer to him and started dancing with him, trying to find their rhythm and matching it to the song. Harry tried singing some of the repeating chorus to her, his Spanish in desperate need of work. Hermione laughed and shot an apologetic glance at Annie, apologizing on his behalf for the butchering of her native tongue. She turned her attention back to Harry and the two began to dance in earnest, both of them remembering some of their dance lessons from the Yule Ball though they improvised some spins and twirls into their routine, the upbeat song deserving something more than ballroom waltzing.

Hermione laughed as she looked at the boy she loved who seemed immensely pleased that he had coaxed her into dancing. He looked immensely dashing with that grin on his face, his eyes shining with happiness as he kept his gaze locked on her. Hermione thought about all the happy memories she had shared with him and wondered about all the happy memories she'd build with him in the future. She noticed that he seemed to slow down a bit, his eyes glowing with a fierce determination that caused her body to grow warm and her heart to flutter and her breathing to speed up. Hermione felt him gently pull her towards him as an arm came up and cupped her cheek. She felt her conscious thought shut down as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down towards her. She noticed both of them lean their heads in as their eyes slowly closed shut.

And then she felt him kissing her.

All of Hermione's senses suddenly shut out the world and focused in on the feeling of Harry's lips on hers. Nothing else existed except her and Harry, Harry's lips and her lips. It stayed that way for an eternity, much too short a time for her, before they slowly pulled apart, her entire body tingling with a magic known to all men and women since the moment they were born. She looked at Harry and saw something similar in him and knew, right then and there, from the deepest part of her heart, that he would be the only boy in her heart from this moment on and that Harry felt the same. She saw a brief question in his eyes before he slowly leaned in again.

And so they kissed a second time.

And a third.

And a fourth.

Each kiss was as special as the previous, each one fundamentally altering Hermione's world view to be brighter, happier and greater than it had been previously.

"My lady," Harry said in a tone that was new and exciting and amazing. He held her close to him, Hermione could feel his heart hammering in his chest and was sure she could feel the same.

"My captain," she whispered as she realized she knew exactly what she needed to still their beating hearts.

They leaned in for a fifth kiss.


	15. I Have Something to Tell You

**AN: **So again thank you to those who reviewed and favorite and the people who've added this to their communities or similar. That all warms my heart. So, sorry that this update took longer than usual, there are a few reasons for that. The first is _Star Trek Online_ and the second is that this chapter has a jarring change of tone that I wasn't sure some of you would appreciate. However, I thought it was vital to the story so I included it anyway. So, violence will be found in this chapter.

Oh, I also realized that Lavender _was_ in Slughorn's class… oops. I went back an edited out the only mention I made of her not taking that class, so all is well. I got Vercundus from some thread called the DLP Grimore in the Dark Lord Potter forums. Locomotor Habilis and Excoriare, as far as I know, are two I just made up.

Also, was anyone at the Comikaze Expo in LA this past 15-16 weekend? I went on Sunday and had a blast.

* * *

**I Have Something to Tell You**

The stares Hermione would receive whenever she'd group up with any of her dorm mates had died down over time, something which pleased her greatly. Right now she was at a table with her Potions book open as she lectured Lavender and Parvati on the most recent chapter they'd studied in Slughorn's class, the three of them studying diligently to pass an upcoming examination the Professor had warned them about since last week. This was the first time Hermione had agreed to study Potions with the pair and was pleasantly surprised when she discovered that they both showed an intense passion for the study of potions. The two didn't show an innate understanding of the subject, but they did show an intense drive to get good grades in the class.

"Hermione?" Lavender asked, bringing the bookworm out of her musings, "Did you hear my answer?"

"I'm sorry," Hermione replied quickly, "No I didn't, could you repeat it?"

Lavender shared an amused look with Parvati before repeating herself. "I said that you'd have to juice the Jazbay grapes before adding moth wings." She then paused, signaling to Hermione that her answer was over before she added, "Daydreaming about Harry?"

"Yes," Hermione replied immediately before catching Lavenders question, she colored a little before she responded, "Yes to your answer Lavender, adding the Jazbay juice to the potion before moth wings is the proper procedure, otherwise adding the moth wings and then the juice would end up in a completely different, and highly poisonous, drink. And no, I was not daydreaming about Harry. I can take my mind off of him."

"Really?" Parvati asked with a grin.

"Sometimes," Hermione muttered before looking over at the two again, "What I was actually wondering about are you two. Don't take this the wrong way but you are showing a rather dedicated effort in your studies…"

"And you didn't expect it from us two gossip and fashion queens?" Lavender asked while Parvati pretended to be offended. "We want to open up a cosmetic shop when we graduate," Lavender went on as she motioned to Parvati and herself, "And for that we need passing grades in Potions, but in truth we'd prefer to get Os to be able to compete once we start up."

"Though there's not a lot of competition," Parvati added as she looked at Hermione, "The main cosmetic lines today are Magi-Makeup and Glamour. Don't get us wrong but… well they leave a little to be desired don't they?" Parvati asked before remembering who she was talking to. "Well…" she went on to try to cover up her slip of the tongue, "What me and Lavender think we can do is make new exciting products, things that the witches will just love! Something beyond basic makeup to give them that oomph they need and want to look their best."

"Yes! Exactly!" Lavender's eyes started gleaming, "See the problem with the current cosmetics are that they put too much emphasis on themselves, the makeup I mean, but for a witch to really feel beautiful she has to know that _she_ makes or breaks the makeup or her dress or shoes, those things are just accessories to the witch herself, not the other way around!" Parvati was nodding along with her words, "Magi-Makeup has too much Notice-Me Charms in the makeup, people are immediately drawn to the eyeliner or the lipstick, not the girl's face!"

Hermione was slightly taken aback by their enthusiasm, she'd had no idea that Lavender and Parvati wanted to go into this line of business, even less of an idea that they would do so on their own and create their own products. She was caught up in their excitement and though she didn't know anything about cosmetics she did want to hear more about the dreams of her two friends. "And Glamour?" she asked, hoping to hear more.

"Is a bit better," Parvati took over, "in that it doesn't attract attention to itself but what it does do is put a Glamour charm over the witch's face, meaning that it hides who she really is. It's great for a single date or one event, but it's no way to snag a boy if you always have to hide your face."

"I see," Hermione said, forming some idea of the two product lines and comparing them to their Muggle counterparts, an exercise in futility given that she knew even less about Muggle cosmetics than she did about magical ones. "And how would you two stay competitive exactly?" she asked.

Lavender and Parvati shared a look, before grinning and getting a gleam in their eye. "What makes a witch beautiful?" Lavender began in what Hermione assumed was her 'saleswoman' voice. "Is it her jewelry?" Hermione had to stifle a laugh as Parvati struck an exaggerated pose, her hand sticking out as she gazed wistfully as an imaginary ring on her finger, "Is it her clothing?" Parvati now switched into a fashion model pose, pretending that her Hogwarts robes were expensive designer clothing which she proudly showed off. "Her shoes?" Parvati leaned back in her chair and turned to her side, kicking up her legs to show off her bog standard Hogwarts uniform shoes, stretching out her legs in the most seductive way possible, a couple of the boys in the common room staring at her legs. "No," Lavender nodded, "What makes a witch beautiful is all on the inside, it is her self-esteem, her confidence in herself to take on anything the world may throw her way. A witch secure in the knowledge that she is beautiful on the inside will always have her inner beauty shine through and make people notice!" Parvati took her inkwell and started showing it off to a greatly amused Hermione, holding it as if it was a vial of expensive perfume or makeup. "Try our new Smiling Lips Stick, coming in various colors to suit the situation the Smiling Lips Stick has a Self-Esteem Potion brewed into the ingredients, giving you the confidence to go after your goals, be they that wizard you've got an eye on, that new promotion at work or just to feel good about yourself! Try Happy Glow! The only makeup that uses your own happy memories to give you that beautiful glow we all strive for now in-and that's all we've practiced so far." Lavender suddenly paused and Parvati put back her inkwell, careful not to spill any more than she already had. "So, what do you think?"

Hermione clapped, smiling all the time. "Bravo," she said with enthusiasm, "You two have really thought about this. I, well, I didn't expect it from you two. So you are really serious about this then? Could you explain a bit more?" she asked. Normally she wouldn't have been so enthused about makeup, but the excitement radiating from her friends was catching. Not only that but she always loved hearing about people's plans and dreams for the future, something she rarely got to enjoy with Harry or Ron, who hadn't seemed to put much thought into their lives post-Hogwarts.

"Of course!" Parvati cheered, "Like we mentioned earlier, all the other makeup lines put too much emphasis on the makeup itself or do some trickery to make the girl appear… uh, that is to say, artificially change the witch's looks to be like the witches found in fashion magazines, the models."

"And that's wrong," Lavender said, "Us girls shouldn't be trying to look like models, we should look like ourselves! What we want to do with our products is make products that remind the girl, all girls really, that they are already pretty. So, like we said, we've got two products that are for sure, The Smiling Lips Stick and the Happy Glw-"

"Hold on," Hermione interrupted, "You've already made these? Where? When?"

"You've seen us." Parvati stated, "You know, when me and Lavender were brewing them in the dorm…"

"That's what you were doing?" Hermione asked, "I thought you were just applying makeup, I didn't realize you were making your own products."

Lavender shrugged, "That's what we were doing. So, we've got those two down. The Happy Glow we came up with after the…" she leaned in and whispered "club meetings", Hermione realizing she must have meant the Dumbledore's Army meetings last year.

"The Patronus?" Hermione whispered in return.

Parvati nodded, "Yes, we thought "What better way to make a witch glow with inner beauty than with her own happy memories?" That's how Happy Glow was born. Took a long time to get that one right."

"There's a few other products we've got in mind too, 8 that we've got near completion and 3 more that need some more testing. We've got a lipstick that reminds the wearer of a happy memory and makes her more likely to smile-"

"My mother once told me that a smile is the best makeup," Lavender added in, Parvati and Hermione agreeing with her.

"Another that's basically a Cheering Potion that you apply as makeup, eyeliner that subtly changes the world to look brighter to the user which we think will make people see the world as a beautiful place and make them happier, Easyspeak Lipstick which helps prevent witches from being tongue tied around their fancies-"

"Basically products that help the witch get through the day and give her confidence in herself."

"I see," Hermione said, realizing that the two _had_ put some thought into this. From what she could hear they'd identified a niche market and had decided to capitalize on it by filling that niche with what sounded like great and innovative products. "All I can say is wow, I underestimated you two," she admitted, happily noting that the two gave her smug grins in return, "I admit that you two have surprised me a lot since I've gotten to know you. Your drive to get good grades in Potions, this whole private business with cosmetics, your rather egalitarian views on beauty..."

"I can see how you'd be surprised," Parvati said without a hint of sour feelings, "But it's rather obvious once you think about us isn't it? At least _I _think it is. Lav and me, cosmetic line, makes sense."

"If only we had the talent for fashion," Lavender admitted with a sigh, "Maybe we can get Luna to make some hand-crafted jewelry for us."

"And as for our views on what makes a girl pretty, well that's easy," Parvati continued, "Tell me Hermione, you know Lav and I get attention from boys right?" Hermione nodded. "Why? Let's be honest, I'm dark skinned and not really shapely, not exactly the classic British beauty."

"And I've got a bit of baby fat on my face," Lavender admitted while patting her cheeks.

Hermione wanted to cut in and object, tell her friends that they were great before Parvati went on.

"But we still get attention from boys even though we aren't exactly great visions of beauty. Why? It's not all the clothes and makeup we've got on, boys don't really notice that."

"I bet Ron didn't realize I switched from maroon to red lipstick while we were together," Lavender admitted. Hermione no longer minded any mention of the time the two spent as a couple, none of the sting or bad feelings festered in her. She had Harry now; Ron's romantic past was of no concern or interest to her.

"We get attention because we've got self-esteem. We know we aren't perfect and we've got some flaws, but we know what we are good at. Boys know who we are because we've introduced ourselves, we've put ourselves at risk and flirted with boys we fancied and let them know we were interested. The girls who don't get noticed, sometimes, are great girls who just don't have that confidence to go after the boy they fancy."

"The Yule Ball for instance," Lavender added while looking at Hermione. "You got some looks from boys then remember? Ron and Harry in particular," Parvati nodded besides her, grinning at the memory, "Was it because you were suddenly prettier than you used to be? No., don't be stupid. You just showed up with confidence in your looks, you smiled and laughed and had a good time and got noticed for that. Boys go crazy for that type of girl."

Hermione digested her friends words, recognizing some truth in them. She thought back to the Yule Ball, when she had noticed that a few of the boys had looked at her in a different light. At the time she'd assumed it was because she was with a famous Quidditch star but now Lavender and Parvati's words gave her a new perspective on that. Perhaps they were right; that the boys were looking at her because she had, for the first time at Hogwarts, felt good about her looks and felt pretty. She silently mused if she could have had more attention from boys if she had held herself in the same manner throughout her time at the magical school but ultimately decided it was a moot question anyhow, she had the attention of the only boy that mattered. That was more than enough. She chuckled to herself before looking up at her two friends, still somewhat amazed at how fast her perception of the two could change within the span of a single conversation. She realized that they somewhat reminded her of the twins, Fred and George, who she had initially thought of as goofs but had ended up with a successful business of their own. "You two surprise me," she said.

"You surprise us too," Lavender said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Who'd have thought you'd be the type of girl to snog her boyfriend in public?"

Hermione eyebrows scrunched up, "I've never done tha-"

"It would be a pleasant surprise," a familiar voice startled her, causing her to jump in her seat. Hermione turned around to look up at Harry, a giant smile on his face.

"Harry!" she stood up and threw her arms around him, immediately forgetting the presence of everyone else in the room as she leaned up to him and kissed him. _My captain,_ she managed to think before her mind melted, the only thing she was aware of was the feeling of his lips on hers, his arm around her waist and the feeling of one of his hands cupping her cheek. They broke their kiss as they looked at each other, giant beaming smiles on their faces before leaning in and kissing again and again. Once they'd had their fill of kisses they simple beamed at each other, held hands, and sat down into their seats, Lavender and Parvati giving them amused looks.

"You have no shame do you woman?" Parvati teased, "Can't limit yourself to one can you?"

Hermione scoffed while sending the dark skinned girl, "Of course I can, I do have some measure of self-control." She said primly, readjusting her robes that Harry had carelessly rumpled.

"Does she?" Lavender asked Harry, who suddenly found the ceiling immensely interesting.

"Harry?" Hermione prodded, daring to disagree with her.

"Yes, she does." Harry said, unsure of her own words, "If she wanted to she could give me a single kiss I bet."

"Oh yeah?" Lavender went on before throwing Parvati a glance, communicating as best friends through their own gestures. "Let's see it then. One single kiss. I've got…" she paused as she rummaged in her robe pockets, "10 sickles. 10 Sickles Hermione can't give you one single kiss."

"High roller!" Parvati snickered, before pulling out her own coinage, "1 Galleon, same bet."

"You," Hermione began before Harry interrupted her.

"1 Galleon says she can." Harry said as she put a Galleon on the table before looking over at Hermione. "What do you say my lady," he whispered as he leaned in, "Want to prove them wrong and win a Galleon and 10 Sickles?"

Hermione was about to object to gambling, especially since she wasn't so sure she could only kiss Harry once, she'd noticed that once she had that initial first kiss she wanted more. She'd wondered if one day she'd start kissing Harry and never stop. However, the look in Harry's eye told her that he was up to something. _Yes, he's planning something alright._ She knew he was. Something that'd turn this bet on Lavender and Parvati, show them that Hermione Jean Granger had self-control! She wasn't some hussy who couldn't keep her hands off of her boyfriend. She looked over at her two friends, a smug look on her face.

"We'll take that bet." She declared haughtily before turning to face Harry. She looked square into his eyes after taking a brief glance at his lips. "I am ready."

Harry smirked, his gaze making Hermione flush, her pulse quickening. She leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Harry's lips, her captain's kissing abilities curling her toes as they usually did. She reluctantly pulled back and resumed her smug grin at her two friends across the table. She looked back at Harry and was about to congratulate him again when her eyes, of their own accord, zeroed in on his lips. They were just there, waiting for her. And she could take them whenever she wanted. Of course if she was in her right frame of mind she might realize that this wasn't entirely true, there might be moments when Harry didn't want to kiss her, but she wasn't in that right frame of mind, the kiss Harry had just given her told her she could kiss him whenever she felt like it. And right now she had this uncontrollable urge to kiss him again.

_But I've got self-control_, Hermione argued with herself.

The next thing Hermione knew was that she had lost the bet with Parvati and Lavender.

"Harry-" she began in-between kisses, "control yourself we-", she was interrupted by a kiss, "lost the be-", another kiss silenced her, she lost all pretense of attempting to fight off her boyfriend's playful kisses and began returning them in earnest, grabbing him by his collar and giving him a firm kiss, their mouths breaking into grins halfway through as they separated. Hermione, once she was able to clear her head, watched as the two girls leaned over and collected their winnings and gave her a "I-told-you-so" look while Parvati mouthed 'scarlet woman' at her. "Harry!" she swatted his arm, "You lost us the bet." She huffed, hoping that no one would notice that it was actually her that leaned in for more kisses. _After all,_ she mused, _I do have something of a reputation to uphold as a Prefect._

"Oh no," Harry sighed in a tone that clearly conveyed his lack of distress, "Looks like I did lose that bet."

"I knew it!" Lavender squealed, "Deep down inside of that bookworm there is a die-hard romantic! Didn't I tell you Pav?"

"He's a good kisser then?" Parvati asked while throwing an appraising look at Harry, Hermione's cheeks coloring immediately as she nodded slowly, the bookworm casting a shy glance at her Harry who had also gone red.

"His kissing is more than satisfactory." She said with a smile, Harry chuckling at the inside joke.

Harry cleared his throat, hoping to move away from his kissing abilities as soon as they could. "What were you girls talking about just a while ago?" he asked, his hand reaching for hers underneath the table once again.

"Lavender and Parvati were telling me about their plans to open a cosmetic shop," Hermione explained before the two girls began to repeating their sales pitch and recounting their ideas for products and makeups. Harry seemed a bit lost throughout the entire conversation, Hermione mused that she must have had the same confused expression that he now sported, but when the girls began talking about the specifics of some of their products his eyes lit up in understanding. He asked them about the ingredients they were using, the procedures they used to brew them, how they experimented with different combinations and amounts of each ingredient. The two girls looked over at Hermione, confused and surprised at his interest in the Potions aspect of their work, though Hermione was just as surprised. After that initial shock Parvati pulled out some well-worn parchment from between her Potions book, Hermione guessing that it contained some of their recipes for their makeup concoctions.

"Mmmh," Harry mused, "You know, Lavender Sprig and Primrose Leaves would help a lot in these potions, they both create effects that would help with these. You know the whole "self-esteem" theme you two are aiming for."

Parvati and Lavender looked at each other, shrugging before turning to face Hermione, expectant looks on their faces.

"He's right." Hermione said, "Now that he mentions it, both of those plants would help create or boost some of the effects you are looking for." She looked over at Harry with an awed look, remembering once again that he was at the top of Potions class without the help of the Prince's book.

"Oh and this," he pointed to a section in Parvati's notes, "Don't even bother with that, that combination won't work. You'd have to take out the Flub Wings and Horn Shavings and replace the Blister Pod Caps with Foxglove nectar."

Hermione looked over at Harry while the three talked amongst themselves about Potions and ingredients. The way he was talking and suggesting corrections to their work reminded her just why she loved him. Intelligence. It wasn't something that would often be brought up with regards to Harry outside of his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, but Harry was incredibly intelligent and quick witted when it came to Potions work. She wasn't sure why he'd never shown such aptitude before, no, she was sure. Professor Snape. The man had an irrational hatred against Harry, everyone could tell that since day one of their first class of Potions. For whatever reason, or maybe there was none, he'd hounded Harry in class, deducted points whenever possible, insulted and belittled his Potions work and purposefully down-graded his work out of spite. Because of him, Hermione now realized, Harry had never had the proper learning environment for Potions. Professor Slughorn, while a slimy and unreliable character in his own right, acknowledge exemplary work where exemplary work was done and, Hermione could now admit to herself, Harry was an amazing Potions brewer. That book, which had caused her to give Harry so much grief throughout the year, had evidently lit a fire in Harry that was fanned by Professor Slughorn's praise of his work. Perhaps now that he had a supportive professor actually teaching Potions in a calm manner Harry had found another one of his talents, one that, much like his kissing skills, had never had a chance to surface until these moments. Hermione also realized something else that might explain his blossoming ease at Potions, his mother. Professor Slughorn had often complimented Harry on his work, citing that his talent must have come from his mother. Hermione realized that that was probably the greatest motivation for Harry, to be able to do something that his mother was well known for. Her spirits slightly lowered at that thought. It must be so hard, so terrible, to go through life not knowing your parents. She'd seen his smile when Professor Slughorn had remarked that he "took after his mother" or that "Lily would be proud if she saw this work", it was amazing.

She wondered if, by some odd chance Harry would discover that his father was an amazing tap-dancer if he'd immediately go out and try to learn tap-dancing. If he found out his mother was a great watercolor painter would he go out, buy an easel, canvas and watercolors and start painting?

It was then that a thought found its way to her mouth before she had any time to process it. "Have you thought about going into Potions?"

Harry paused and turned to look at her, a curious expression on his face, "No, can't say that I have. Why? You think I'd be good at it?"

"Of course you would," she replied immediately, "You could do a lot of good work as a Potions Maker, there's always a need for curative potions."

"Mmmh," Harry mused while looking at her, Parvati and Lavender chiming in with their own encouragement.

"You'd look great in those white coats the Potion Makers wear," Parvati said while giving him a friendly look over, "Tall, strong and smart," she stated, "Why, you'd make Hermione melt in her knicke-"

"That's enough," Hermione huffed, giving the dark skinned girl a glare before looking back at Harry. "But you should consider it; you've got natural talent that's hard to come by."

Harry grinned, the faintest hints of a blush evident on his face as his mind registered Parvati's words. He leaned into Hermione's ear and whispered, "Hermione, are you sure you want me to be a Potions Maker because I'd be good at it or because it'd be good for you?" He didn't want for her response; she didn't have any except to stutter and bluster, but grinned and added, "I'll think about it."

Their conversation passed by amicably, Harry getting along greatly with Lavender and Parvati once they established a common ground centered around potions making. Harry had recently started dabbling in his own spare-time potions making but admitted that none of the boys he shared a dorm with had any interested in that hobby. Lavender asked if Harry knew whether or not Luna would be interested working for them once she graduated.

"I dunno," he said, "Luna wants to go out and explore the world. She wants to find the creatures she always talks about so I don't think she'll have time to hold down a job in a store."

The two girls seemed to deflate at this news, before Lavender perked up again. "Well, she'll need money to do that, what if she works for us for a while, saving up a little nest egg to go on her animal hunts?"

"Luna's been saving up for her trip for a long time, since she was little. And I'm sure her dad'll help out with the costs."

Hermione's eyebrows rose up in surprise, "She's been saving up money to go on a wild-" Harry gave her a warning look, "She's been saving up since she was little?"

"Her dad's pretty supportive of her," Harry commented, "The Lovegoods have always been a bit unconventional, and they all support each other. They have a relative in Switzerland somewhere who owns a zoo and sometimes goes on his own expeditions to discover new creatures. Luna tells me he has some sort of student working under him who shows promise at being a crypto- a zoo-, at caring for exotic animals. Rolf something."

"That must be nice," Parvati said, "I'm the black sheep in my family. Father isn't crazy about my plans but he hasn't tried to change my mine either. I think he had hoped I'd be Padma's twin in everything, straight Os and aspiring to work for the Ministry when I graduated, or going back home and working with the Bahá'ís. But it's my life, and I love fashion. Mother is the one who has a problem, she'd rather see me married off than trying to work in a "harlot's profession"."

Hermione gasped in surprise, "But, what about Padma? It doesn't seem as if she has a problem with Padma's plans, surely she isn't trying to get her married off too?"

Parvati nodded, "Padma's freaky smart," she said with a smile, always looking for any occasion to praise her twin sister. "So my mother looks the other way when Padma says that marriage isn't something she wants to jump into immediately. I don't have that pass, so she puts more pressure on me to find a wizard to marry as soon as I can."

"She doesn't have to worry though," Lavender added, "Because once she graduates she'll be of age, she can come live with me and my family while we set up our business."

"Your parents would be fine with that?" Hermione asked, loving the chance to hear more about her friend's private lives as she moved her seat closer, Harry following suit to sit closer to her.

"You two are so adorable," Lavender chimed, "But yes! My parents are _completely_ on board with this. It was my daddy who gave me the idea. It was the break after third year, I had come home and was pretty upset because my pet rabbit Binky had died." She said, Hermione immediately realizing that Lavender still missed her pet rabbit as her voice hitched at the mention of her beloved pet.

"That was a hard summer for you," Parvati consoled while looking over at Harry and Hermione, "I had stayed over to keep her company."

"My daddy," Lavender went on, "loves me a lot. Both my parents do, but my daddy has a hard time connecting with me since I'm a girl and he's very much a manly man. My mom didn't have much luck making me feel better, neither did Parvati, so one day my dad walks into my room. Parvati and I were applying makeup on each other try to get my mind off of things and he looks around my room. He says, "So, you like makeup."" Lavender said in her deepest imitation of a man's voice. ""Why don't you make your own makeup?" And just like that," Lavender snapped her fingers, "Pav-Lav Cosmetics was born! After a year of talking about it in school, during the whole Tournament business we decided to follow on it. My mom is entirely on board with us, and daddy said he'd give us some startup money when we decide to begin."

"Do you have any money saved up?" Hermione asked. She realized it probably wasn't the best of questions when both Lavender and Parvati grimaced.

"Well, my family isn't being supportive of me…" Parvati answered.

"And while my family is, daddy and mom don't have a lot of money to spend… so we're going to have to work a bit to pay our way."

"What about your parents Hermione?" Parvati asked in an effort to continue the good mood.

Hermione beamed and began to talk about her mother and father, how supportive they've been throughout her magical education and how they'd explained to her that they'd support and love her no matter what world she'd choose to make her life in.

They went on to talk about their parents, their likes and dislikes; how Lavender's father lost one of his fingers in a logging accident, Parvati's mother's love of theatre and her father's inability to eat most British cuisine. Hermione mentioned her father's hidden love of video games and how he had remarked, upon first visiting Diagon Alley, that it was like visiting a world "straight out of _Dungeons & Dragons"_ and then spent a good half hour explaining what video games and _Dungeons & Dragons _were. Throughout the conversation Hermione noted that Harry had gone quiet and briefly wondered why that was when her breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped.

_Stupid!_ She chided herself, _Stupid stupid stupid!_

"So I think we should talk about something else," Hermione suddenly interrupted, Lavender and Parvati looking at her in an odd way before Parvati's eyes widened in realization, Lavender catching on a few seconds later.

"Actually," Harry said, "Something you mentioned earlier got me thinking… about money." He said with a whisper, as if speaking about money was a vulgar act. "How would you two feel if I wanted to invest in your business?"

Lavender and Parvati looked at each other in shock, then glanced at Hermione. The bookworm didn't know what to tell them either, she looked at Harry in confusion.

"Harry?" Hermione said, tugging at his arm and gently turning him to face her. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying two friends have a dream and I can help them reach that dream. So why not?" he shrugged, the entire thing seeming obvious to him.

"Well yes but…" Hermione replied, unsure how she'd continue. On the one hand she felt proud that Harry was willing to go out on a limb and invest in two gossiping girls that wanted to make their own cosmetics, on the other she had the urge to question him. She loved him, and it is his own money and even if she objected, which she didn't, she wasn't in any position to stop him if he wanted, but she just wanted to make sure he had given this some thought and knew the risks.

Harry leaned in to her and started whispering, "I'm sure Hermione. It's just like the Twins isn't it?" He clarified, "They were also a pair with a dream they wanted to pursue and the talent to do it."

Hermione looked at him then back over at Lavender and Parvati, who seemed to be nervous and whispering amongst each other. _They do remind me a bit of the Twins._

"They're your friends," Harry said, "And I think they are my friends too, at least I think they are my friends and it's just money. What good is it to me if it just sits in my vaults for the rest of my life? Besides," he said in an even lower voice, "Remus told me my dad gave money to businesses when his gut told him to."

Hermione thought back to her earlier question, if Harry would learn tap-dancing if his father was a tap-dancer, if he'd try painting with watercolors if he found his mother did so too.

He certainly would.

She beamed at him, his eyes lighting up when he realized she had given the OK on his decision and gave his hand a firm squeeze. "You are too noble, my captain."

He grinned, "And you have got me wrapped around your finger my lady. Had you said "No Harry, don't' do it," there'd be two crying girls right now." He turned to face the two girls again, the pair suddenly straightening up in their chairs. "So," Harry began in his whisper as he leaned across the table, "How much do you need to start off?"

Hermione saw the two throw a glance in her direction, silently wondering if he was serious. She was about to nod when she suddenly realized that they weren't asking her if he was serious, they were asking her if she had allowed him to invest in them. "I'm not his accountant," she said in a huff, "It's his money and he is serious. I just wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing."

"Of course you were," Lavender laughed before looking back at Harry. "Well, me and Pav did some asking around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley one summer, and Hogsmeade has a store for rent for-"

"For rent?" Harry interrupted, "No. Unacceptable. If I'm going to invest in you two you are going to _own_ a building, not rent it out."

"But," Lavender said, her face full of surprise, "owning a buil-"

"You should just let him," Hermione said in a tired voice, "If he wants to do good you can't stop him."

"Ok," Lavender said after a long stare at Harry, "So we'll own, Pav?"

"I think, remember one of the buildings on le Faye Road was six hundred Galleons. So, half of that should-" she looked over at Lavender, who nodded, "Half of that should be fine."

"One thousand Galleons then," Harry went on, "six hundred to buy the building, the rest to help you buy whatever else you'll need to get started. That sound about right?" he asked.

Hermione stifled a laugh as she saw her two dorm mates, Lavender gaping like a fish while Parvati was looking as shocked and pleased as she had when Harry had first asked her to the Yule Ball as his date. The dark skinned girl was the first to recover, Hermione noted that she always seemed to be the quicker of the pair to gather her wits, and nodded in such a way that Hermione feared for her health. "We accept!" she squealed, Lavender smiling like a madwoman beside her.

"Great," Harry smiled as he offered his hand to shake on the deal, Parvati and Lavender grabbing his hand and pulling him across the table, the two girls kissing him in gratitude before he was able to react. The two girls started chatting excitedly to each other, gathering their books and notes as they ran up to the dormitories, the two excitedly planning out their starting purchases, praising their luck, and heading to write their parents about their first investor. Hermione had to bite her tongue to prevent from roaring in laughter as she saw the look of fear on Harry's face as he turned to face her, two giant sets of lipstick smeared across his lips.

"But I di-I was-she-Par-I swear I didn't!" he stuttered, his face white in fear, sweat already forming on his brow.

Hermione grabbed him and hugged him tightly, burrowing her face against his neck as she began laughing uproariously, her peals of laughter muffled against his body. Harry tensed at her actions before his body sagged in confusion. After several minutes she pulled back from his, her face red and her eyes filled with tears from laughter. "Oh Harry, don't worry!" she said, "You just flat out told them you'd fund their dream jobs, gave them more than they hoped for! And all after just talking to them for half an hour! Is it any wonder why they decided to kiss you?" She giggled as she tapped her wand to his lips, muttered a spell that cleared away all the evidence of his 'infidelity'. "You're not the only one who wants to give you a reward," she whispered as she tip-toed up and kissed him, Harry responding back after the second kiss she'd given him. When their slew of kisses ended she gave him another hug, inhaling in his scent, "First Cho, then Luna and now Lavender, Parvati… just don't go kissing Fay and Clara alright? Because then I _will_ have a problem. Do you understand me Potter?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry replied immediately, "No kissing Fay or Clara."

"Or any other girls." Hermione growled.

"Or any other girls." Harry repeated obediently.

"Repeat it again," Hermione demanded, enjoying her ability to order Harry around.

"I won't kiss Fay or Clara or another other girls," Harry said in his closest imitation of a military recruit before hugging Hermione closer, "But why would I want to kiss any other girl when I have the prettiest, smartest, bravest, most loyal girl of all?" he said, laying on his charm thick.

Unfortunately for Hermione, she always fell for his charm.

Hermione looked back to her chair, pushing Harry into it as she sat down in his lap, her face red as she ignored some of the looks they were receiving, Lavender and Parvati's earlier outburst having put the spotlight on them. She snuggled up against him as he settled into the chair and shifted to make her more comfortable, one of his arms wrapped around her waist, his hand resting on her upper thigh. A long time passed like that, Hermione enjoying the feeling of closeness to Harry and found their silence to be immensely comfortable. She didn't have any worry while she sat on his lap, his arms resting snugly around her. It was so different, she thought, such a new experience for her to just sit in her boyfriend's lap, completely oblivious to any of the people around her, her mind not fretting over any book or essay that was due, not caring if she was completely betraying her promise to never become a love-struck girl who couldn't stand to be away from a boy. _But then,_ she mused lazily as she enjoyed the feeling of Harry playing with her hair, _I've always enjoyed being around Harry._ She reached down and started caressing his hand, feeling the rough calluses caused by years of Quidditch and hard work at the Dursley's home and smiling as her fingers reached the thumb ring she'd given him as a late Christmas present, wondering if he had read anything into the inscription when he'd first seen it. She smiled as she looked up at him, catching sight of the pensive look he had on his face. She paused before saying anything, she could tell he was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that she was staring at him. She lay in his arms for a while as she studied him, his gaze staring at something invisible before him, his breathing slow and calm. Finally she called out to him, "Harry? What are you thinking about?

"I liked that conversation," Harry said after a while, "I haven't really thought about my future a lot. I just. I don't know. I haven't." He turned and smiled at her, "But I have since I snagged you."

"Snagged me did you?" Hermione replied in mock surprise.

"Oh yes! Used the famous Potter charm and reeled you in. At least that's what Remus said. I've been talking to him a lot this year, not sure you've noticed," he added, Hermione realizing that she hadn't. "He helped a lot this year, him and Luna. I was so frustrated this year," he growled out before reigning in his temper. "After Sirius," he paused as he gave her a look. Hermione gasped as she realized that he had his arms full holding on to her, she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand, casting a privacy charm around them. "Thank you." Harry said before he continued. "After Sirius died I was, in a bad place. I argued with Dumbledore, I asked, begged and demanded he start giving me lessons, proper lessons I mean. To fight Voldemort."

Hermione gasped, looking up to him to argue before he cut her off.

"Hermione don't. I know we'll end up facing each other, you and Ron know, Dumbledore knows, anyone who's been paying attention knows. After Sirius died I, I was _angry. _So angry. Dumbledore wasn't teaching me anything, not a single thing. And here I was, sitting in class, sitting along with students who still try to ignore that there's a war coming, having to deal with tests and other things…" he trailed off, Hermione immediately realizing he was talking about the drama caused by her and Ron. "So, I started talking. With Luna, with Remus. They helped a lot. I can't train, for whatever reason Dumbledore's decided that it's more important that I understand Voldemort than learn how to fight him, fine. But they told me that, well Luna told me that if Voldemort made me want to fight him, to spend every moment hating him and wanting to fight and, and kill him, then he'd won. Remus said the same thing. And they are right." He sighed, a long heavy, burden lessening sigh. "Remus told me about my dad, about my mom, about Sirius. Told me how they'd all had dreams and plans while they were in Hogwarts, how my dad and Sirius had already started taking charge of their family finances and started making small investments here and there, how my mom had already begun making contacts in the Ministry to secure a job. Luna told me how her dad had sat her down one day after her mum had died and told her that her mum wouldn't like it if she cried all day." Harry paused while he looked at Hermione, who had now sat up straight in his embrace so that they could look at each other eye to eye. "I've been doing that all my life right? Voldemort took my parents away when I was one, and I've been crying ever since. Not literally I mean, but I haven't given my life much thought, never thought about my future, never really asked about my parents even though Remus and Sirius could have told me. I don't even know where I'm going to go when I come of age." He let out a quick sardonic laugh, "Well, Remus talked me out of that, told me to start thinking about my future, it'd be good for me if I imagined a life once Voldemort was gone. So I started doing that." He looked back at Hermione, a small grin and blush on his face. "Unfortunately, I took Remus' advice to mean that I should start dating and, well…"

"You started getting closer to Luna." Hermione supplied, hoping to sound like she wasn't judging his decision to go after the misunderstood blonde, their new mutual friend.

"Yeah," Harry said, glad that she understood what he was saying. "I fancied her a bit, and she was so nice to me so we started to become closer until, well, something happened and we realized we didn't work."

"You snogged her you mean." Hermione answered, causing Harry to jump slightly, surprise evident on his face.

"Oh right, you know about that…" he said with some fear, Hermione nodding. "Well yeah… but like I said, we didn't… I'm not sure how to explain it." He paused for a moment, Hermione already knowing what he was trying to say but deciding that this was something he had to do on his own. "I guess we weren't really who we wanted." He said slowly. "Luna is great, but I," he looked at her, his eyes soft, "but she's not brilliant."

Hermione smiled, pleased at his words.

"So, I started trying to get your attention, and to do that I knew I had to think about my own future, pick up the slack and buckle down and study, make sure you'd be the type of boy who could get your notice. Someone with smarts, someone with plans and-"

"You know I've always noticed you, don't you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Harry replied, "And that means so much to me. But I also had to do that for myself."

"You, my captain, are a wonderful man."

Harry snorted, "I'm only as half as wonderful as you are." His smile slowly faded as he spoke up again, his voice soft and low. "You are lucky you know?" he said. "To have parents. When was the last time you wrote back home?"

"After our first date," Hermione admitted, "I told my mum about my first real kiss." She looked up at him, realizing that her conversation with Lavender and Parvati about parents had stayed with him.

"Oh. That two weeks ago. Write them more often. Every week if you can. Do it for them." He whispered.

"Harry," Hermione said softly as she reached up and cupped his face, leaning in and kissing him as softly and tenderly as she could. Unlike their other kisses they gave each other, kisses to show that they were happy in their new relationship, happy with each other, that they were attracted to each other and couldn't get their minds off of each other this kiss was different. She kissed him for a long time; kissed because he had no parents of his own to talk about, kissed him because she'd try her hardest to make up for all those years with the Dursleys, kissed him because she'd try to make up for her behavior this year, kissed him because she wanted desperately for him to love her like she loved him and because she wanted to give him a happy future together.

She pulled away from him, Harry making up some excuse about dust getting into his eyes as he rubbed them in an effort to hide the few tears that had escaped during the kiss. Hermione politely pretended to believe him, complaining that no one had "aired out the common room in a while" and cast a spell to open up a nearby window, conveniently turning her back to do so in an effort to give Harry the chance to dry his eyes. And also to conveniently hide the fact that she had nearly started crying too.

When she turned back she saw Ron standing a bit away, looking down at the floor and looking uncomfortable. He caught her sight and, when she had nodded that it was ok to walk over, beamed.

"Hey!" he greeted just as Hermione brought down the privacy charm that surrounded them.

"Wotcher mate," Harry said, "How long have you been there?" he asked with some embarrassment.

"Oh, I've been here since you two started snogging," he replied with a grin, "I would have interrupted but… it looked like a special snog."

"Thank you for that," Hermione said, glad that Ron was able to read the situation correctly. "So, where have you been all this time?"

"Oh, I was over there with Dean and Seamus, talkin' about Quidditch and-"

"Avoiding Lavender," Harry chimed, grinning at his friend's reaction.

"Was not. What gave you that idea?" Ron defended.

"Are you really?" Hermione asked, Ron giving the two of them a look.

"No! I dunno what Harry is on about. I'm not avoiding Lavender." Ron replied before finally breaking under Hermione's gaze. "Ok fine, I am avoiding her."

"Honesty is the best policy," Hermione said, "But why are you avoiding her?" she asked, confused at his behavior.

"Well…" Ron replied, his face turning red.

"Oh I see." Hermione said softly, Harry chuckling beside her. "Well, I hate to break it to you Ron but I don't think she's interested anymore."

"Yeah," Ron said, his shoulders sagging. "I figured that all by myself, Harry thought she'd be over me too... Still, I hoped you could have told me some good news."

"Sorry," Hermione frowned, "but I can't. If you don't mind me asking," she continued, feeling somewhat odd to talk to Ron while cuddling in Harry's embrace, "Why are you interested in her again?"

"Eh," Ron shrugged, "I miss snogging her I guess."

Hermione sighed, dropping her head into her hand in exasperation as she groaned, Harry jumping into the conversation.

"Ron, I don't think that was the right answer."

"Why not?" Ron asked in his clueless tone of voice, "I figure that is as good a reason to start snogging a girl again. We snogged and I miss that, so why not?"

"Well, she broke up with you didn't she?" Harry asked, as Hermione felt him shift uncomfortably in his seat, she drew her head up from her palm, looking over at her boyfriend and Ron, the two of them looking uncomfortable.

"Uh, yeah I guess," Ron said as he scratched his shoulder, "But, well I stopped that didn't I?"

Harry shrugged, Hermione looking at the two of them in confusion. She surmised that they were picking up a topic of conversation they had had in the past and hadn't shared with her and felt slightly left out that her two best friends had secret conversations without her. _Then again, I don't tell Harry everything I talk with the girls._

"I dunno Ron, maybe-"

"Excuse me, Harry?" a little first year girl said, holding out a scroll for him to take. "Headmaster Dumbledore told me to give you this." She said in a hurried tone of voice, clearly nervous around the famous wizard.

"He won't bite you," Hermione said, feeling slightly playful, "In fact, the way things are going today he's more likely to kiss you than anything."

The little girl, now blushing a furious red, simply threw the scroll into Harry's hand and ran away, Ron and Hermione laughing at the sight; Harry simply rolling his eyes at his two friends before reading the Headmaster's note.

"That was a good one," Ron said as he calmed down, "I don't get it though, what did you mean "the way things are going today"? That sent her flying."

Hermione bit her tongue, realizing that Ron probably wouldn't take kindly to the news that Lavender had kissed Harry earlier in the day, instead she looked over at Harry, who had now finished reading the note. "Harry, what does Headmaster Dumbledore want?"

"He wants to see me right now, it sounds pretty urgent."

"Blimey!" Ron gasped, "You reckon…" he leaned in to give a conspiratorial whisper, "Maybe he's found one of them?"

"Better go and see." Harry said as he made to stand up, Hermione hopping off of her seat on his lap, He leaned down and kissed Hermione in their fashion before walking out of the common room.

"You know, it's not odd seeing you two snog all the time." Ron stated when Harry was gone.

"Thanks Ron, I'm sure it wasn't odd to see you and Lavender snog either." Hermione snapped back, having been somewhat irked by his childish behavior recently as he made faces or gagging noises whenever he stumbled into their shows of affection.

"Hey don't bite my head off," Ron said, "What I mean is, I thought it would be weird to see my two best friends snog, especially since I fancied one of them, but… it isn't. And that makes it weird you know?"

"Ron," Hermione said after a long sigh, "I don't think I'll ever understand you."

"It's like, when we go up and play Quidditch and Harry catches the Snitch, I'm always amazed that he's able to catch that little bugger, I know I couldn't, and I get surprised. But then I stop and think and it isn't so surprising that he caught it, because it's Harry you know?" Ron went on in explanation, "So that's what it's like to see you two snog. I think "Huh, that's odd" but then I realize that it really isn't. And _that_ makes it weird, so I have to try to make fun of you two to make it normal again."

"You were always so eloquent," Lavender said, startling Ron so much that he fell out of his chair, Parvati snickering beside her friend. "Hey Hermione, we just wanted to say sorry about snogging Harry like that."

"We weren't thinking," Parvati said half-heartedly before being elbowed in the rib by Lavender. "Hey! I can't help it, I'm not really sorry." She grinned.

"It's alright you two," Hermione said with a smile, "You two were caught up in the moment and couldn't help yourselves. As long as you promise not to be caught up in the moment around my boyfriend we'll be fine." She said, hopeful to get her message across.

"We'll try, but we can't say we won't be caught up again when he actually hands us the money, or when we actually start up the business." Lavender replied in a friendly tone, Parvati nodding along.

"Warn him, if he ever steps foot inside our store I'll try planting one on him again." She said, Hermione rolling her eyes and laughing at Parvati. She supposed she should be concerned that Parvati had flat out said she'd try rewarding Harry with more kisses if he ever showed up to their future store, especially since the girl was quite attractive and had gone as his date to the Yule Ball, but she looked over at her friends. She now knew their behavior, their personalities, Lavender obviously felt guilty about what she'd done and had come back down to apologize and clear the air and, she knew, Parvati felt bad too. But whereas Lavender was upfront about apologizing Parvati would try to play off her guilt by making teasing jokes. And even if Parvati and Lavender had enjoyed the kiss she knew the two of them would never do anything that Hermione was uncomfortable with.

Even so, she'd make sure to try to find some way to prevent Harry from walking into their store in the future.

"So, where is the lover boy?" Parvati asked as she sat down next to Ron, Lavender giving her a grateful smile as she sat next to her friend. "We wanted to say sorry about what we did."

"I wanted to say sorry," Lavender said, "Parvati was going to _pretend_ to be sorry."

"Hey!" Parvati gasped, "Come on Hermione, if anyone knows what it's like to kiss Harry it's you. Tell me, are _you_ sorry you've kissed him." Hermione blushed. "Ha! I win. Case closed."

"Wait what." Ron asked as he finally settled back into his seat and caught up with the conversation.

"Nothing," Parvati said lazily, the conversation resuming over the fact that they hadn't actually finished studying for the upcoming Potions exam, Ron trying to make small talk with Lavender, and failing miserably, and a few words of general excitement over Harry investing in them.

"Harry did what?" Ron asked, confusion clearly written all over his face. "I miss one table conversation…" He turned over to look at the common room entrance as he heard the portrait of the Fat Lady swinging open. "Hey mate, what's this about you snogging-"

"Not now Ron," Harry replied as he ran up to his dorm.

Hermione looked over at Ron, the redhead throwing her a concerned look. "Ron, could you go up and see him?" she asked.

"Sure," Ron said, hurrying up after him. As he hurried up the steps to the boy's dormitory Hermione was reminded that she wasn't the only one who worried over Harry and felt a touch of happiness that her little group was getting along smashingly again.

"What's going on?" Lavender asked.

"I'm not sure Lavender," Hermione replied honestly, "I suppose we'll see when Harry comes down here and tells us." She said, though in her mind she was coming up with various scenarios that could have caused Harry's behavior. _Maybe he saw a particularly nasty Pensieve memory?_

It was a few moments later that Harry and Ron emerged from the boy's dormitories, Ron looking as confused and worried as he had been when he ran up.

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked, worry lacing her voice. He paused and hesitated, glancing over at Lavender and Parvati, who immediately made to stand up and leave.

"No, stay," he said, "This involves you too. Listen, it's tonight, I know it is. Malfoy is going to try something tonight. Here, take this." he thrust the Marauder's Map into Hermione's hands, who was looking at him anxiously. "Dumbledore and I won't be here tonight, this is Malfoy's best chance at doing whatever it is he's been trying to do all year. Listen!" he snapped as Hermione made to interrupt him, "I _know_ it was Malfoy in the Room of Requirement, I _know_ he's up to something! Believe me will you?" he pleaded.

Hermione looked straight at him, could hear the urgency in his voice and see the look of anxiety on his face. She nodded.

"Great. Use the Map, try to watch Malfoy, try keeping him out of the Room of Requirement. And Snape!" he hissed out the Potions professors name, "Keep an eye on him too. Dumbledore said he'd brought some of the Order members here for extra security, but Snape is a rat, first chance he'll get he'll tell the Death Eaters how to get around them."

"Death Eaters?" Lavender gasped, looking as pale as Parvati did.

Harry nodded, "Look, Lavender, Parvati, you two were in Dumbledore's Army last year but I'll understa-"

"We're in," they both chorused at the same time. Hermione feeling a great sense of pride for her two friends.

Harry nodded, Hermione realizing that he'd never be able to accept the sense of loyalty he inspired in people before turning back to face her. "Hermione, the Galleons still work right? Contact anyone you can."

"Harry," Hermione began, her demeanor getting more and more worried as he went on.

"No arguing," he snapped, "Take this too." He thrust a vial into her hands.

"The Felix Felicis?" she said as she looked at the potion in her hands, the vial completely full. "Harry-"

"Hermione do it." He ordered, Hermione surprised at his tone. "Share it with everyone," he looked over at Ron, who nodded, "I've got to go now." He paused and hesitated, looked at Hermione with something she couldn't place and leaned in and gave her a long, urgent kiss. He pulled away from her and ran out of the common room, Hermione and the group temporarily stunned. Hermione's mind went into overdrive as it re-examined his behavior and his kiss. It was unique, a kiss he'd never given her before. _It's almost like…_ she said before her eyes widened in fear. She ran as fast as she could to the common room exit, pausing outside as she saw the hallway was empty. Her breath was shaky and her heart had started beating a kilometer a minute in her chest.

"Harry Potter!" she yelled into the empty hallway, "You be safe! You come back to me!" She paused, wondering if he had heard her. She turned at the sound of footsteps behind her, Ron, Lavender and Parvati coming out of the common room.

"Hermione," Ron spoke up, "What do we do?"

Hermione looked over her friends, who looked just as shaken up as she did, their eyes wide. Her breath hitched in her throat as she realized they were waiting for her to tell them what to do.

She was in charge now.

She'd admired Harry when he was in his commanding mode, how easily his orders flowed out of his mouth when they'd flown to the Department of Mysteries, how smoothly he was able to tell his Quidditch team how to straighten up and fix their formation, how easily he was able to tell the DA members to correct their hand and wrist movements during their sessions. Even if he was scared, and Hermione knew that he was, he always seemed to be calm and in charge.

And she realized she wasn't him.

Her throat was dry, her palms were sweating, her heart yammering in her chest and her bones ready to jump out of her body and dance a jig. She opened her mouth to say something but found she had no voice. Her head was spinning and she felt like she needed to lay down.

_No._

She took a calming breath, Harry had left her in charge. Harry had though she was up to this, Harry had looked at her and told her what to do. Not Ron, not Lavender, not Parvati or Luna or Neville or anyone else. He'd trusted her. She schooled her features into her usual determined look, maybe she couldn't be as brave as Harry, but she'd fake it.

"Ron," she began, finding her voice after pretending that this was nothing more than another DA meeting or preparation for an exam. "Go back into the common room and find any DA members you can find, tell them Harry needs us. Parvati and Lavender, you do the same in the girl's dorms. I'll stay out here and use the Galleon to call people from the other Houses." She finished, the three of them nodding and running back into the common room. Hermione pulled out the DA Galleon she always kept on her person and called through it, the charms she had placed on it a year ago still functioning, the Galleon warming up and shaking in her hand as she did so. Several moments later the Fat Lady's portrait swung open, Lavender, Parvati, Ron, Neville and Ginny stepping through. Hermione inwardly frowned, hoping more people would have shown up.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, "Where's Harry?"

"He's with Dumbledore," Luna's voice rang out as she skipped next to them, her bare feet masking her approach to Hermione, Padma in tow.

"Yes," Hermione said, somehow realizing no one else was going to come. "Listen, Harry and Dumbledore left, they're doing something to hurt Voldemort," Lavender and Parvati flinched, "And he thinks-" she was interrupted when the portrait swung open again, Fay and Clara stepping through. Hermione looked them over, Fay in her pajamas and Clara with a giant inkblot across her robes.

"We're here." Fay said, her wand gripped tightly in her wand.

"You shouldn't though." Ginny scolded, "You weren't in the DA last year an-"

"And Harry is our friend!" Fay snapped, "And Hermione! And Lavender and Parvati too!"

"Yeah!" Clara agreed. "We weren't in your club last year but that doesn't mean we won't help now."

"Enough!" Hermione said before Ginny was able to start up again. "They can join us. Here is what we'll do, Ron, Ginny and Neville, you'll go and secure the Room of Requirement, Harry thinks Malfoy's planning something and that the Room is essential to that plan somehow." The three of them nodded. "Me and Luna will guard Professor Snape's office, Harry's worried that he'll try to help Malfoy with his plans, it'll be our job to stop him." Luna nodded beside her, her wand slipping out from behind her ear and into her hand in one deft movement. "Lavender, Parvati and Padma, you three will be in the hall between the Room of Requirement and Professor Snape's office, you'll be able to run to Ron and his group and Luna and me if either of us needs help. And Fay and Clara, I want you two guarding the hallway leading to the Headmaster's office. Harry thinks they'll be aiming for him, maybe to set up a trap for him. Do you two know how to cast a Patronus?" she asked, realizing that she didn't know their level of knowledge in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Fay nodded, "Yes, I want to be an Auror like my dad is, he taught me the charm when I couldn't get the hang of it in third year. I taught it to Clara around the same time."

"Good," Hermione said, pleased that they weren't too far behind. "Remember everyone, use the Patronus charm to send messages in case the situation becomes too much for you." She reached into her pocket and produced the Luck Potion, before taking a small sip of it. "Here," she said as she handed it to Luna, closest to her, "It's Luck Potion, take a sip and then pass it on to the next person, we'll need it."

The rest of their little meeting passed by in silence, the Luck Potion being passed around and the girls and Ron and Neville measuring out their portions. Ginny caught Hermione's gaze at one point, the two of them staring each other down. Hermione had noticed that the young redhead hadn't tried anything with Harry recently and assumed that she had learned her lesson and backed down.

"Hermione," Ron startled her, before she felt someone's arms hold her down, the vial of gold liquid being pressed against her mouth and going down her throat.

"What the!" she asked, coughing at the unexpected and forced drink.

"Harry would kill us if something happened to you." Ron said blandly before turning to Neville and Ginny. "Come on, we've got to get to the Room," he turned back to Hermione and the rest of the girls, "Good luck." And with that the three of them ran off.

"Stay safe," Lavender said, Parvati giving them all a small smile that betrayed how terrified she was. "We'll all do our hair and makeup after this is over right?" Lavender asked, "You too Luna and Padma, we'll sneak you in if we have to."

Padma nodded, looking over at her twin sister and her friends, "I'll let you do my hair Party," she said, using the nickname she'd made for her "younger" twin. "Like when we were little."

The three left and Hermione found herself with Luna, Fay and Clara.

"Well…" Fay said as she let out a long shaky breath. "I suppose this'll be good experience for when I'm an Auror right?"

Hermione looked at Clara, who had always been the calmest and sheltered of all the girls in her dorm. "What do you want to be when you graduate Clara?" she asked.

"A mommy." Clara replied, "Some girls want to be professors or healers or Aurors even, I just want to be a mommy. Have a great husband and be a mommy. Good luck you two." She said, leading Fay off into the direction of the Headmaster's office.

Hermione found herself alone with Luna.

"Come on Hermione," Luna said, "Harry gave us jobs to do."

"Yes," Hermione replied, feeling incredibly alone. "Let's go."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, not passing by any students along the way, which only increased the trepidation that Hermione was feeling. They stopped outside Professor Snape's office, deciding to hide in one of the nearby alcoves to stay out of sight. Hermione tensed up in the shadows of their hiding hole, grinding her teeth together and tapping her foot repeatedly. Time seemed to pass by slowly, first ten minutes, then half an hour, then an hour. It was incredibly terrifying to know that _something_ was about to happen, to know it would happen _sometime_ tonight. As the waiting and silence stretched on and on Hermione wished that Harry had been wrong. She didn't care if she'd look like a fool tomorrow, if her little group looked at her and joked "All that for nothing". That would be wonderful, it'd be great if this was nothing, just Harry being paranoid at the end of a quiet year. _Harry's never had a quiet year._ She mused darkly, her thoughts turning into anger as she realized that Voldemort and his gaggle of bigoted scum that called themselves Death Eaters had never left Harry alone. She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms as she started wondering why she wasn't seeing any students in the halls, why Professor Snape's door was closed and no noise coming from his office. Was it always like this? Was she imagining the halls so lonely?

"Stay calm," Luna's voice washed over her, Hermione turning to look at the little blonde.

"I can't. How can you?" she asked a bit more tersely than she had planned.

"I was calm at the Department because I was with Harry, I fancied him. But he is my friend and needed help. And now you are my friend and you need my help. Lavender and Parvati too. My friends need me calm, so I'll be calm."

Hermione nodded.

"And the Faceless Man is telling me it'll be fine." She added, causing Hermione to laugh, the edges of Luna's mouth forming a small smile before she let out a giggle.

"Luna, don't ever change." Hermione asked, feeling immensely relieved.

It was a few moments later that Hermione sucked in a breath and _knew._

It had started.

A few seconds later she started hearing the sounds of spellfire, the crackling bangs spells made as they left the wand, the _zzzzzip_ that screamed through the air as the spells flew, followed by the clangs and sounds of glass shattering associated with magical shields deflecting or breaking under fire. She could hear voices coming from down the halls, which one she didn't know, and muffled voices. She couldn't make out the incantations used but knew some of them must be Killing Curses. Hermione realized she would have preferred silence to this. She looked over at Luna, who had an impassive and dreamy look on her face before she was startled by the sudden increase in spellfire she was hearing. It sounded like several people were fighting back in the direction of the Room. Luna's head whipped around in the opposite direction as they started hearing the sounds of screaming and the frenzied firing of spells in the other direction, suddenly they were startled by the sounds of a bell tower ringing, the clanging of a gigantic bell vibrating throughout the entire castle.

"The Emergency Bell Tower," Hermione whispered, remembering the information from _Hogwarts, A History_. The castle is charmed to automatically start it up when there is danger present in the castle."

"Why haven't we heard it before?" Luna asked in an effort to keep Hermione calm by talking.

"I don't know," Hermione said, her mind working to figure out the problem. "First year we were all in the Great Hall when the troll was released, so everyone in the school already knew what was wrong. Second year… second year the castle might not have had time to trigger the charms when the basilisk was about. Third year is easy, Sirius didn't mean anyone harm, except Pettigrew. Fourth year the Triwizard Tournament was going on, the castle must have written off any danger as an accepted part of the Tournament." She paused as she heard a particularly nasty boom coming from down a hall, followed by silence, followed by a renewal in the fighting. "Fifth year I'd wager that Umbridge disabled the charm while she went about her business and-Oh I can't take this! Why are we talking about the Bell Tower when our friends are in danger?"

"Because we have to guard Professor Snape's office," Luna answered simply. "You said we would." Hermione was about to retort angrily when she saw the look on Luna's face and beamed.

"Right," she began, "Change of plans then!" The last thing she saw before she began barreling down the hallway was Luna smiling at her. They ran in the direction of the sounds of fighting, Hermione skidding to a half as a Death Eater appeared from around a corner, a series of spells barely missing him and colliding with the wall beside them. The Death Eater turned around, his eyes bulging underneath his mask as he caught sight of Hermione and Luna.

"Flipendo!" Hermione called out as she jabbed her wand into the man's chest and sent the Death Eater flying into the nearby wall, a loud and violent smack accompanying his collision.

The Death Eater was clearly rattled, but still made to raise his hand, "Avad-" he was cut off when a violent red curse smacked into his face, the mask crumpling inward with a sickening crunch.

Hermione slowly rounded the corner and came face to face with Mad Eye Moody.

"Ah, Granger, Lovegood," he said in his gruff tone, his eye swiveling around in his socket as he gave them an appraising glance as he noticed their wands trained on the downed Death Eater. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE! He barked, "Good on you keepin' a lookout even on a downed enemy. Don't worry though, he's out of the fight for good." Hermione looked past him, seeing a trail of Death Eaters lying on the ground, some of them groaning and others lying deathly still, one of them missing an arm. It was another reminding that this was real. "The two Weasleys and the Longbottom boy did a good job trying to hold them off, but they were crafty. One of the Death Eaters threw some Peruvian Darkness Powder as cover, I told those kids to get out of there while me an' Tonks secured that area. Get to them, we'll be fine here."

Hermione nodded dumbly, eager to leave Moody's hallway, Luna skipping along beside her. They neared the area near the Room of Requirement though could go no further as a pitch black cloud hung in the air, obscuring everything beyond it.

"Hello?" Luna asked as she threw a spell into the cloud that Hermione recognized as a Wind Current Charm, designed to create currents of air in sealed spaces. "Drat," Luna frowned as the Darkness Powder continued to cling to the air. "I don't think there's anyone in there." She said before stumbling along with Hermione as a particularly powerful boom shook the castle. "I don't like this, I hear people around us but can't seem to find them," Luna added.

"Oh of course, the Map!" Hermione shrieked as she reached into her pocket, pulling out the Marauder's Map and immediately saying the passphrase to activate it. She scanned the Map, seeing most of the students hidden inside their House common rooms or dormitories, along with a few names she recognized as Order members. She gasped as she counted nearly 50 names that she guessed were Death Eaters, several of them swarming in the direction of the Headmaster's tower. She also noted quite darkly that several students from Slytherin were amongst the Death Eaters. She hurried her gaze beyond that and continued searching. "There!" she pointed at the Map, Luna standing beside her and keeping watch for any Death Eaters. "Ron and the others and… I think some Order members are in the Entrance Hall! We've got to get there quickly, there are Death Eaters all around them!" she hissed as she packed up the Map again and turning in the direction of the Entrance Hall. They were running for a few moments when suddenly Hermione's vision exploded in sparks and shards of masonry as they flew towards her, felt the sting of shrapnel as it collided with her and gave her several nasty cuts. She was temporarily stunned as she heard someone yell out "Get the mudblood!" She looked up and saw two Death Eaters make their way towards her, seemingly confident that their trap had stunned her enough that she wouldn't fight back. "Flipendo!" she yelled out again, one of them flying backwards and tumbling into a third Death Eater further behind them, the remaining Death Eater being hit by a hex that Luna had cast, the man knocked on his back as he violently evacuated the contents of his stomachs. He stumbled around, vomit streaming from his mouth and tried cursing the two girls and failing as his words were choked on undigested food. Hermione momentarily wrote him off as she clambered to her feet as the two Death Eaters did the same, one of them slower than the other.

"Locomotor Wibbly, Locomotor Habilis!" Luna called out in succession, one of the Death Eater's arms and legs collapsing as the bones turned to jelly, Hermione putting down the other with a simple Stupefy.

"Good work," Hermione said as her heart yammered in her chest, adrenaline coursing through her body. "Now we've got to-"

"Confringo!"

Hermione had the sense to cover her eyes as the floor between her and Luna erupted in fire and stone. She felt an intense heat as she was knocked backwards, her head hitting the floor in a terrible manner. Stars flew across her vision as she overheard the Death Eater that Luna had curses with the Jelly limbs call out for help, the sounds of several other people, more Death Eaters she imagined, yell out in reply.

She looked around, "Luna? Luna?" she called out, the little blonde stumbling into her vision as she hoisted herself off of the ground on the other side of the small intersection they'd been ambushed in, "Luna are you-"

A series of spells slammed into the floor, walls and ceilings around them, blasts of energy ripping gouges out of the masonry of the castle. "It's the mudblood and a blood traitor!" they heard someone, a woman, screech out. "We want the mudblood alive! Kill the spare!"

Hermione pushed herself up against the wall and edged, a spell splashing against the corner as she peeked her head over the side; there were several Death Eaters making their way over to them. She quickly leaned out of cover and started firing off several hexes, jinxes and curses, a rainbow shower of bolts that snapped a Death Eater's kneecaps, caused one female Death Eater to catch fire and caught a third in the chest, falling down and gasping for breath as his lungs started failing. Hermione didn't hesitate when a small part of her mind told her that she was dangerously close to actually killing the Death Eaters she hit, she hand-waved away her moral qualms by reminding herself that all of the spells she had used could be easily reversed, only lethal if the Death Eaters didn't stop to help their downed comrades.

Those moral qualms also disappeared when she caught sight of Luna. The blonde had most of her clothes singed and burned, the sleeves of her arms completely burned off and her hands blackened, but what really hardened Hermione's heart against the Death Eaters was the fact that her eyes were closed, her aim incredibly off, the few spells she was firing off going wide. She had been blinded.

"LUNA!" Hermione screeched before trying to cross the hallway to help her friend, another Confringo blast igniting in the hallway.

"Hermione, don't." she said in a surprisingly calm voice from across the way, Hermione straining to hear her under the sounds of spellfire. "You keep going, I've got a feeling you'll be needed up ahead."

"Luna, don't be crazy!" Hermione yelled, momentarily forgetting her decorum or how Luna would take her comment. "I'm not leaving you here, we'll find some way out of this."

"No, I'll be fine I think," Luna said as she smiled and threw off of a curse that went wide, one of the Death Eaters commenting on the girl's aim from down the hall. "Oh, Hermione, I hope you don't mind, but when I fancied Harry I asked him to go with me on a trip to Switzerland to find Crumple Horned Snorkacks. He said he'd love to. I hope you don't mind?" she asked as easily as if they were out on the school grounds and not in a life or death situation.

"Yes," Hermione nodded, "Now come on and don't be stupid, you two can't go on your trip if you get caught here and-"

"I'll be fine." Luna repeated before looking at Hermione, her eyes snapped shut, small streaks of red streaming down across her face. "Oh, mind your head again." She said.

"What-" Hermione was suddenly thrown backwards, Luna hitting her with a particularly powerful Flipendo spell that sent her clear across the hallway. When Hermione finally fell and skidded to a halt against a set of stairs she looked back down the hallway, seeing Luna give her one last smile before turning and heading straight down the hallway towards the Death Eaters, the entire hallway lighting up with the usual blue and reds of most traditional curses, a blast of fire engulfing the hallway. Hermione didn't have any time to double back to Luna, as she suddenly felt her legs lock up painfully, a nearby Slytherin student whooping in joy.

"I got Granger!" he cheered to his nearby companion, a full Death Eater in costume who had been leaning out of a nearby window, his wand pointed up at the sky.

"Good work," the man said from behind his impassive Death Eater mask as he thumbed his wand as he edged closer, "The Dark Lord will be - you fool!" he screeched as he saw that Hermione still had the full use of her hands, bringing up his wand to incapacitate or kill her.

"Vercundus!" Hermione yelled, a bludgeoning curse flying out and catching the Death Eater straight in his mouth, his mask crumpling into his face as she saw the man's jaw expand outwards as it was broken in two, teeth and blood flowing out of the beaten area, the Slytherin student stunned at the display, "Vercundus!" she yelled again, the Slytherin student doubling over as the spell slammed into his stomach, the wind being knocked out of him. Hermione muttered the counter curse to the Leg Locker Curse and started up the stairs in the direction of the Entrance Hall, not wanting to waste any time meddling with the two Death Eaters, not make Luna's act end up in vain if she was caught only a few feet away. As she reached the top of the stairs she paused and crouched behind a nearby statue just as several Death Eaters ran past her. She paused for a few moments as she waited for them to run past before she once again remembered the Map. "I solemnly- oh it's still activated," she muttered to herself as she pulled the map open. The first thing she was check back on Luna. _Yes!_ She cheered, seeing that Luna was still moving around back the way she came, several Death Eaters around her, unmoving, as more of them started closing in on her. She scanned the area ahead of her and realized that it was more or less a clear shot to the Entrance Hall. She took a deep breath as she felt her pulse quickening and made a break for it, her breathing coming out in ragged breathes, she quickly realized she had never been one for exercise, and her legs burning as they carried her as fast as they could.

"Hermione!" someone yelled out, turning to see Padma and Neville standing next to Parvati, the younger of the twins holding her leg with a look of pain on her face, "Where's Luna?" Neville asked as a spell collided with a nearby statue, everyone ducking as it exploded.

"Everyone alright?" Hermione asked as she pressed her wand against Parvati's leg and muttered every healing spell she knew, the large gash on the girls' healing up. Parvati gave her thanks as Padma nodded, her ears bleeding. "Padma, can you hear me?"

"What?" she yelled out.

"Her earing's shot," Hermione muttered to Parvati, "You'll need to get her to a Healer later. Neville," she said as she remembered his question, "Luna's back in the direction of the dungeons, she's alone, Death Eaters are closing in around her."

Neville hesitated and looked at the two Patil twins. "Go get her Neville, we'll be fine."

"The dungeons?" he asked again, "I'll go find her, I don't think any of the people the Headmaster brought along were down there."

"Here," Hermione said as she handed him the Map, "It's Harry's, but I'm sure he won't mind if I hand it to you. Do you know how to use it?" When he said he didn't, she quickly explained. "Stay safe Neville, make sure you call out to Luna, she can't see."

His eyes widened and gave them all one last look before he disappeared back the way Hermione had arrive from.

"Do you know what's going on?" Hermione asked, eager to find some sort of information on the situation.

Parvati nodded while Padma's eyes roamed around the area, keeping a lookout for more Death Eaters or Slytherin sympathizers, "They aren't going everywhere, just the dungeons and trying to get to the Headmaster's office. Some of them already went that way. Ron, Ginny and Neville were on their way up there to try to bail out Fay and Clara when we all got caught here," she jabbed a finger over her shoulder, Hermione looking over past the wide double doors to see the Entrance Hall, Ron, Ginny and Lavender, along with some Order members, including Remus, standing atop the Grand Staircase and holding off a group of Death Eaters that were using the nearby doors to the Great Hall as cover. "Hermione," Parvati started up again, "Fay and Clara up there, and though Fay's a tough girl, she isn't really a fighter and Clara, Clara's too sweet to ever hurt anyone."

Hermione nodded, clearly realizing that out of the entire group the two girls were the most in danger, "Right," she said as she looked at the Entrance Hall, the Grand Staircase stretching upwards beyond it. "I sent them up there, I'll go get them." She said.

"Hermione, don't be hard on yourself," Parvati cut before ducking as Padma fired of several spells at a lone Death Eater that rounded a nearby corner, the masked man falling to the ground in a heap. "Hermione, they wanted to be here, but go make sure they are fine."

"Of course," Hermione said as she made to stand up, "You two will be alright?"

"Of course," Parvati said, "Don't worry about us." She said with an encouraging smile, Padma turning to yell another "What?" into their ears.

Hermione turned and ran into the Entrance Hall, several Death Eaters taking shots at her as she ran up that flight of stairs, her friends and Order members doing their hardest to lay down spellfire that'd keep the Death Eater's heads down, a few distance Shield charms popping up around her. She dived across the last step as a spell flew above her head, every hair on her body standing up on edge as the electric blue bolt sailed past and splashed against a nearby portrait, bursting in a giant plume of electricity.

"You alright?" Ron asked as he looked her over.

"I'm fine, and yourselves? Professor Lupin?"

"I'm alright," Ron answered in what she assumed as the smoothest way he possibly could, Lavender sitting unimpressed beside him, using a broom closet door that had been propped up against the railing as cover.

"I'd prefer to be out of here," she answered.

"I'm bloody angry!" Ginny hissed, "Death Eaters in our school!"

"I'm not your Professor anymore Hermione," Remus answered as he ducked out of cover and sent a hail of spellfire towards a Death Eater that had tried running up the stairs, his body tumbling back down once he was hit. "And I'm fine."

"Where are the others?" Lavender suddenly asked, "I saw Parvati back there with Padma and Neville, please don't tell me-"

"They're fine," Hermione replied quickly, "I helped Parvati as much as I could, Padma's with her, though her hearing was impaired by a curse that hit too close to us… Neville's gone after Luna, I… last I checked they were fine." She said, fully acknowledging that they could not be fine at this moment.

"Luna's alone!" Ginny shrieked, "I have to go help her!" She tried standing up before her brother pulled her down. "LET GO OF ME YOU GIT MY BEST FRIEND IS ALONE OUT THERE!"

"Neville went to go find her!" Hermione repeated, "And you have to stay here!"

Ginny gave her a fierce look, tears at the edges of her eyes, "I swear Hermione, if Luna's ki-"

"Get ahold of yourself!" Hermione hissed, Lavender and Ron both looking and staring at her tone of voice, "She'll be fine and Neville will be fine and we'll _all_ be fine as long as you _keep calm!"_

"Something is _very_ wrong here!" an Auror next to Lupin yelled out as she threw a few fireballs down the staircase and against the Death Eater's cover, several curses being muttered amongst them as one of them caught his robes on fire. "I studied Hogwart's security in Auror camp, where the bloody hell are the statues? Where are all the defense wards?" she ducked as a spell hit her in the shoulder, a large bloody gash appearing instantly. "Bloody fuck," she cursed as she put her wand against it, Hermione hearing a sizzling sensation as she closed her wound with a Searing Spell.

"Maybe they broke the security?" Ginny guessed as she blindly shot several spells over her cover.

"I'm off to find Fay and Clara," Hermione said, realizing that it was useless to speculate about the castle's apparent lack of defenses. "They're near the Headmaster's office, there'll be too many Death Eaters for them, I sent them up there!" she stood up, Ron immediately diving and dragging her back to the ground. As she fell and was whipped around by Ron's tackle Hermione saw a deadly green bolt, the Killing Curse, sail right past the spot she had just stood and saw it impact straight into the chest of a masked Death Eater that had just made it down the stairs, his body lifelessly falling on top of her and Ron in a heap. Hermione felt a disgust and revulsion the likes of which she'd never felt in her life as the body slumped against her, she scrambled to kick the corpse off of her as fast as she could. She saw the nearby Auror cast a spell that levitated the corpse off of her and moved it over to them, the Auror setting up the body against the floor of the stairs as an impromptu piece of cover, a few spells hitting the body and leaving their deadly marks against its skin.

"Better him than us girl," the Auror replied briskly.

"Hermione!" Ron shook her by the shoulders, "Stay in it! Here, here's his wand, it fell out of his hand, take it!"

Hermione hesitated, the feeling of a dead body having shook her terribly.

"Hermione! Take the wand!" Ron yelled straight into her face, "Go get your friends!"

Hermione swallowed down the bile and disgust that was welling up in her throat and gave her friends one last look before she ran up the staircase. She continued running, her stomach churning, her face burning from all the cuts she'd received through various bits of stone chips flying off of the walls, her legs screaming out in pain at her. She almost flew up the stairs, running and jumping more than she ever had in her life. Her heart feeling as if it was fit to burst.

"Stupefy!" someone yelled out after three minutes of running up stairs.

Hermione had enough time to act, her body running on adrenaline and making her aware, as she saw Clara struggling to carry Fay's limp body down a set of stairs. The small redhead had obviously mistaken her for a Death Eater and thrown a curse in her direction. Hermione immediately pulled up a Protego Spell, the bolt harmlessly being absorbed by her shield. "Clara it's me!" she yelled out before Clara could mutter another spell. "Is Fay?" Hermione hesitantly asked.

"No, no, no, no." Clara stammered out several times, half of her face a violent red, one of her signature pigtails completely burned off, a smell of burnt clothing, hair and skin wafting off of her. "She got knocked back into a wall and passed out, I was hit with something that made me lose it too, I woke up a while later and most of the Death Eaters had passed us." She said quickly, her voice squeaking and going higher and higher as she did so. "I think they thought we were dead and wanted to get up to the Astronomy Tower as fast as they could because I think, I think they've got the Headmaster and Harry up there! Hermione! Harry's up there! I know it, I heard some of them cheering and whooping as I pretended to be unconscious!"

Hermione's mouth went incredibly dry, _They had Harry!_ Her stomach suddenly tightened up in fear, her heart constricting and her lungs suddenly expelling out all the air they could. _No, no, no, no, no, no, no_! she chanted in her head before she refocused on the little red-head next to her, the girl on the verge of her own panic attack. Hermione's first instinct was to run up the stairs and save Harry, save _her_ Harry, to completely and utterly destroy any godforsaken bigot Death Eater that had dared harm even a single hair on his head. But Clara and Fay needed her right now, she put her hands on Clara's shoulders and gave her a firm shake. "Clara, Clara look at me, look at me and calm down," she ordered even though she herself was anything but calm, "Take a deep breath and control yourself," she said, even though she was close to losing her grip herself, "Ok think, do you know of any unused classrooms nearby, any broom closets, bathrooms, anything?"

Clara nodded, her single pigtail whipping along with her head as she did so. "Yes, there's a broom closet nearby that-"

"Great!" Hermione said, "Take Fay in there, use a broom or anything you can find in there to barricade yourself in, do you know the locking spell?" She nodded again. "Use it, stay in there and hide in there. I think you'll be fine, the Death Eaters aren't looking through broom closets. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, yeah I can," Clara said, looking much better now that Hermione had talked to her, told her what to do. "Go, get Harry and the Headmaster, but be careful!" She leaned over and hugged the bushy-haired girl as hard as she could. "Be careful Hermione! I want you to meet my kids! I'll tell them, "See Missus Potter over there? I know her! Saved my life once!" that's what I'll tell them!"

Hermione nodded, her own eyes starting to water up, "Hide Clara, be the biggest coward you can possibly be and hide and don't make a peep and you'll be fine and Fay will be fine. I have to go!" she stood up and saw the teary eyed red-head nod before she began pulling Fay towards the nearest broom closet.

Hermione turned and made the last leg of the journey purely on willpower, her entire body screaming at her in pain.

She pushed open the double doors to the Astronomy Tower.

"HARRY!" she yelled out as she caught sight of Harry lying on the floor amidst a large pool of blood, several bodies around him. She immediately ran over to him and turned him over, his entire face covered in cuts and wounds. "Harry, Harry darling talk to me! Harry don't-" she paused as she saw his eyes open up, "Harry I was-"

Hermione suddenly felt herself magically turned around and came face to face with the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort. He gave her a giant toothy grin, his rows of inhumanly sharp teeth gleaming in the dark lighting of the Tower.

"Hello mudblood." He said before he raised his wand and wordlessly cast a spell at her.

Hermione had just enough time to raise her wand in an attempt to cast a Protego spell, Voldemort's spell slamming against her magical shield and shattering it as easily as a child's, the spell continuing and slamming into Hermione's arm, a sickening and painful crunch ringing in Hermione's ears as the arm was broken in several places before her entire body was propelled backwards and crashed into a table full of telescopes and other astronomy equipment.

"Hermione!" she heard Harry yell out as she struggled to stand back up, her body failing from the trauma she'd just been subjected to, several splinters embedded in her back from the broken table pieces that landed around her. She pushes herself out of all the debris just in time to see Voldemort laugh and cast a spell at Harry, his wand flying from his grasp and falling uselessly nearby.

Hermione tried raising her wand arm only to see that it was hanging uselessly against her side, her hand still tightly gripping her wand. She simply grit her teeth against the pain and used her free hand to aim her entire arm, "Vercundus!" she screamed again and again, sending several bludgeoning curses at the vile man only for him to laugh and easily deflect all of her spells.

"Hahahahaha!" he laughed, his face contorted into a disgusting grin of happiness, "Dumbledore, the Boy-Who-Lived and the Brightest Witch of Her Age all in one night!" he yelled out before pointing his wand at the debris around Hermione's foot and easily turning it into boiling hot water which jumped at her feet. Hermione yelled out in agony as she jumped away from the burning water.

"Oppugno!" she yelled out while once again pointing her arm at Voldemort, several of the objects in the room coming alive and charging the still laughing man.

"Oh you _are_ smart," he hissed as he spun in place, a shield flaring to life around him and flashing brilliantly as several telescopes, tables, books, papers and models of planets colliding against it. "You would have made a wonderful Pureblood! _But your blood is filth!_" he screeched, another wave of his hand causing his shield to combust with an intense flame, the books and cheap model planets incinerating instantly, the tables combusting and the telescopes warping under the heat. With another wave of his hand he shot the burning projectiles back at her, Hermione doing her best to avoid the brunt of the attack. One of the heavy burning telescopes hit her in the stomach, its superheated metals scalding against her clothing and down to her robes before she was able to hide behind one of the large pillars in the tower.

"What do you plan to do here?" Voldemort called out with an amused tone, "What do you, lowly mudblood, think you can do that the Boy-Who-Lived cannot? What Dumbledore could not?" He began laughing in his wheezing manner, a sound that reminded Hermione of a sickly hyena or deranged elderly man who was far too close to death to go through the exertion of laughter. "Harry Potter lies useless at my feet, and Dumbledore? Dead! A smear at the bottom of this very tower!" he yelled out.

_Dumbledore's dead?_ Hermione wondered.

"Oh yes!" Voldemort's voice called out, "Do you think your mind safe from me?" he called out before Hermione suddenly felt a presence in her mind. "_DO YOU THINK YOURSELF SAFE IN YOUR THOUGHTS MUDBLOOD!?"_

Hermione yelled and jumped out from behind the pillar, momentarily forgetting rational thought as she charged Voldemort in an effort to get that disgusting vile man out from inside her head. "Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus! Flipendo! Vercundus! Reducto! Reducto!" she yelled out, a few of her spells going wide as she tried aiming a broken arm while running, a few of the spells being harmlessly deflected by Voldemort's wand.

"Excoriare!" he yelled out, a vile looking black and red curse flying from his wand and directly towards Hermione.

"Accio corpse!" Hermione called out, acting on the first thing that came to mind as a nearby corpse flew towards her. It careened into her just as Voldemort's curse reached her. The corpse, which Hermione realized was female, suddenly exploded outwards, showering the entire area, and Hermione, in a disgusting shower of human entrails. Hermione was too stunned by the force of the curse, and by the fact that she was just holding onto a bloody skeleton, to react when Voldemort pointed his wand at her again. She let out a cry of pain as she felt her legs twist awkwardly and gave way under her and caused her to flip over and hit the ground with a heavy thud before another spell hit her broken arm, her hand letting go of her wand.

"Do you think you could have saved your little captain by coming here?" Voldemort asked mockingly, "Did you think there was a happy ending for you? Did you think this was a fairy tale like the ones the filth you call parents used to read to you?" he asked as he moved closer to her, seemingly floating across the floor as he did so.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled out again as she shakily stood up to his feet and threw several curses at him, several of them, she realized, dark curses that he must have learned from the Prince's Book. Hermione watched as several of his spells actually contacted with Voldemort's magical shields, causing them to flare brilliantly, and watched with some pride as Voldemort seemed to struggle with deflecting some of them.

"Oh!" Voldemort said in surprise as he laughed and laughed, "And what is this?" he said after a particularly powerful Sectumsempra spell ripped out a gigantic gouge on the floor. "Spells straight from the Prince's Book!" he yelled out in glee before hitting Harry with a spell that sent him flying into a nearby book shelf. Hermione saw her chance and drew the Death Eater's wand that Ron had given her and aimed it at the large model of the solar system that hung in the ceiling, bringing it down on Voldemort. As soon as the large model planets started raining down from the ceiling she ran across the room to be at Harry's side, Voldemort disappearing from view in a puff of inky black smoke.

"Harry!" she called out as she made her way to him and checked up on him, "Harry are you ok? Where-"

"Watch out!" Harry yelled out, pushing to the side as he stood up and threw another cutting curse at Voldemort, the man disappearing into another cloud of black smoke.

"Is this what you came to save?" Voldemort's voice rang out, "A boy who throws Dark curses as easily as a child throws the Tickling Curse?" He laughed, Hermione hearing the cackling in her head. "Look around you mudblood, do you see these dead? Who do you think killed these men and women?" Hermione paled as she looked around, for the first time noticing how many dead Death Eaters were littering the floor, she looked up at Harry, who couldn't meet her gaze.

Surely he hadn't?

_He had._

"What was it they said about you?" Voldemort asked smoothly, his voice coming from the room itself, Harry and Hermione's eyes darting around to try to find him. "The next Dark Lord! Do you think they'd still follow you, do you think the mudblood would still be here if she knew how easily you killed them?"

Hermione turned to look at Harry again, disgusted at his actions and-

_No! _she yelled, _This is what he wants!_

"Don't listen to him Harry," she called out, "Don't listen! This doesn't change anything, I still-there!" she yelled and pointed with her good arm at a cloud of black smoke, two evil and deranged eyes peering at them from the darkness. She began sending a stream of spells towards Voldemort, Harry joining in with his own set of fire. The smoke simply flowed around their spells, the eyes laughing at their efforts.

"Look at this Harry Potter! Look at your little Squirrel, at your lady, she uses spells to incapacitate! Even now when faced with Lord Voldemort she does not wish to kill!" A red bolt suddenly flew from out of the darkness and landed between the two, Harry and Hermione diving in opposite directions as the floor erupted between them a long flaming whip of pure fire suddenly flailing about, snaking around the room and smashing into walls, bookshelves and pillars. "Do you think she wants to save you now?" Voldemort asked, "Do you think she wants to kiss a killer? _You are too dirty for her._" He hissed. "What do you think your parents would think? For all their ignorance and defiance even they never stooped so low as to be on my level! Never! Even your father, when I knocked down his front door and looked him in the eyes, when he _knew_ I was going after your mudblood mother and yourself, didn't dare cast dark curses! And your mother, oh, poor, innocent Lilly Potter, she-" Hermione felt his words take a toll on Harry, felt him break and fire a string of curses at him, Voldemort laughing as he deflected each and every one of them before animating the nearby pool of blood into a high pressure torrent that slammed against Harry and knocked him on his feet and following up with a terrible bludgeoning curse that slammed into his chest and left him struggling for breath.

"And you!" Voldemort turned as Hermione took aim with her free hand, "Do you think he wants _you_ to save him?" Hermione's eyes went wide as she saw him fire a string of curses at her, several of them flying in arcs and making turns as they raced towards her, several of them hitting her in various parts of her body. She wasn't sure what they had intended to do until a second later when she felt acid and food make its way up her throat. Hermione struggled to keep her food down before she felt a spell smack her across the face, her lip busting open and finally losing control over her stomach. She vomited instantly and fell to the floor, her body conjuring more and more bile for her to throw up as she did so. After several long painful moments she began to dry heave, her throat raspy and searing in pain. "Do you think you are worthy of him, mudblood? Look at yourself, covered in blood and filth, impure blood running through your veins." Voldemort taunted as he took long, deliberate steps towards her. "You don't belong in our world, you don't belong amongst us, your magic is stolen from those far worthier of it." Hermione looked up and raised her hand in an effort to curse him when she felt herself pushed into the floor by an invisible force before she was dragged across the ground, crashing into Harry.

"The child of an insolent blood-traitor and mudblood, and one mudblood herself." Voldemort said. "Two worms at my feet."

Hermione, for her part, couldn't take her eyes off of Harry. He was bruised and beaten, cuts all across his face and covered in blood and sweat. And she still loved him. He wrapped his arms around her and she threw her good arm around him. She hugged him as hard as she could, realizing that this was the last time they'd have. Hermione's vision became blurry, either through tears, or pain, or because her body was failing she wasn't sure. "Don't listen to him my lady," he said in ragged breaths, blood trickling out of his mouth, "You are beautiful," he then leaned in and kissed her. Hermione didn't care that he tasted of blood, and he didn't care that she tasted of vomit, the two of them kissed because they both knew they had to, because they both knew they needed this kiss to face what was coming next. They finally separated after a while and looked up at Voldemort with defiant looks, Hermione holding Harry's hand as tightly as she could.

Voldemort's smile turned into a sneer as he looked at the two of them, Hermione realizing that he was upset that he hadn't broken either of them. She just look at him triumphantly, _You can't make me love him less._ She thought loudly, sure that he was peering into their minds. His gaze snapped at her before an vile grin broke out on his face. He raised his wand and pointed it straight at her, a sickly green mist that danced with energy appearing at the end of the wand.

"Harry Potter, watch closely as I triumph." He said with a smile, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "I shall break you Harry Potter, I shall take away that which you love most. This is a great day for me!" he cheered, "The death of Dumbledore, the death of the mudblood! And soon the death of Harry Potter!" he cried out in mania, "I am so happy." He let out, his face contorted into the most disgusting visage of happiness Hermione had ever seen.

She stared at him defiantly, oddly enough feeling none of the bone chilling fear she had felt throughout the entire battle, she felt strangely at peace, an odd sort of calmness that she knew she was drawing from Harry. She was here with Harry at her end, it was up to him now, this was his show and she knew he'd find some way out of this, knew he'd find some way to stop this madman once and for all.

"And now the finale!" Voldemort cried out.

Hermione suddenly realized that everything wasn't alright, that she still had one important piece of business to do in her life, the most important thing she could do in her entire life. She quickly turned to face Harry, his eyes teary and wide with fear. She had to be strong for him even now, she had to control her voice, had to show him that she was here for him even at her last moments on Earth. She beamed at him, smiled with everything she could muster and whispered.

"My captain I lo-"

And then she was gone.


	16. I See Thee Better in the Dark

**AN:** Well, that's the most reviews a single chapter has received. All those reviews make me happy, as do all the people who've followed this and favorite this story. I'm terribly sorry about the long delay for this chapter but holy Hell was this chapter so hard for me to write. Maybe it was the content or the dialogue or the pacing, I dunno, but every time I sat down to attempt it my mind just groaned in protest. Also, I know where I am going to end this story, so this means that there are only a few chapters left in this story. Maybe 2 at the most, depending on how I break up the following chapters… but then again I've told some reviewers that this story was ending several chapters ago so…

Today, Oct. 20, 2012, a few hours before I uploaded this chapter I got my first ever credit card and bank account. I feel so adult.

* * *

**I See Thee Better in the Dark**

_ And with strange aeons even death may die._

_ We hold these truths to be self-evident-_

_If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us…_

She didn't know where she was, but she had the distinct lack of feeling. Her arms, her legs, her entire body was gone, she was composed entirely of thoughts, disembodied and freed of the pain she had experienced only moments before. Here she was free from pain, from hunger, disease, sleep, fatigue. Here every word she'd ever read rushed across her mind. Every beautifully romantic line from the few romance novels she'd read, ever tidbit concerning Hogwarts from _Hogwarts, A History,_ every silly line written by Douglas Adams, every play from Shakespeare's pen, all the crushing despair of HP Lovecraft's twisted mind flashed in her mind as clearly as the first time she'd read them.

_ You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden you look down…_

_Here's looking at you kid._

_ I could have got more out. I could have got more out. I don't know. If I'd just…_

The words started blending in with scenes from movies, scenes from plays her parents had taken her to see, images from art museums she'd visited, lyrics from music she'd heard, smells from flowers and the taste of all the food she'd ever had.

_The Scream is the popular name given to each of four versions of…_

_Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch, like me…_

_1 cup butter, softened, 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar…_

She started remembering moments of her life, snapshots of her outings with her parents, conversations with her mother, watching her father play his silly video games while her mother tried unsuccessfully to play along with him.

_ Honey, you are getting at that age where you will notice boys... I-lemme call your mother?_

_ No dear, you are supposed to _avoid_ filling the screen with the blocks and shapes... See here, lemme..._

_Do you want to go see the dinosaur exhibit darling?_

_ How was the Yule Ball darling?_ _Tell me all about it!_

She remembered the Astronomy Tower; she remembered the battle that lead up to it, she remembered Luna, Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Neville, Ron, Fay, Clara, and Ginny.

_ Hermione, what's your problem?_

_All of my looks and none of my brains._

She remembered Harry.

_What if I told you I wanted to snog another close friend?_

_ Hermione, would you like to go on a date with me?_

Her handsome, intelligent, brave and loyal Harry.

She thought of her Harry, how great his kisses where, how he made her knees weak whenever he held her and whispered his cheap, cheesy lines into her ear, how amazing he looked when he was flying, how gracefully he moved through the air.

She remembered their first kiss, their first series of kisses, their first date…

_Harry Potter was born on July 31__st__, 1980, to James Potter I and Lily Potter __née__ Evans…_

She thought about how terrible his life had been, and how he'd be alone from now on. How it seemed as if the universe was trying to take every single person he cared about away from him. His parents when he was only one year old, Sirius in their last year, Ron who had left him and thought him a liar in their fourth year, Dumbledore dying just a few moments ago, and now her.

He'd move on.

He'd have to.

Hermione suddenly felt an intense anger come over her.

He'd _have_ to move on. It wasn't the universe that was robbing Harry of the people he loved, it was Voldemort.

_ The death of Dumbledore, the death of the mudblood!_

His parents, his chance at a normal loving family, of a normal childhood, Sirius, his godfather killed by Bellatrix, his second chance at a normal life stripped from him. And now her, one of her best friends and, she hoped, someone much more than that.

_I shall break you Harry Potter, I shall take away that which you love most._

She didn't want Harry to_ have_ to move on.

She didn't want her Harry to _have_ to get over her, to bury her corpse and Dumbledore's.

She didn't want her Harry to _have_ to grow into a bitter man, another Mad Eye Moody, who constantly looked over his shoulder waiting for Voldemort to arrive, gritting his teeth and having to bear the news of another dead loved one.

Several of Harry's loved ones had stolen from him, he had no family to speak of, no real home to go to and she was sure that before this was all over more people would die, or turn their back on Harry, or leave him alone in the dark.

But not her.

The words started to fade as she grew determined to stay with Harry, as she willed herself away from whatever was pulling her towards whatever lay beyond mortal life, as she willed herself to stay alive. She felt her teeth gnash against each other in determination, felt her arms form into fists, felt her legs kick wildly about, and felt her heart beat faster and faster as she thought about her captain. Suddenly she felt air rushing past her, her ears picked up on a loud roaring that began beating down on her. Hermione felt her body suddenly crash against something and continue on, something akin the sensation of smashing through a window and then suddenly smashing into the earth with a large and painful thud.

Hermione gasped as she suddenly found herself out of breath, her lungs burning in her chest, and suddenly turned over as she coughed up blood and bile. She retched into the dirt before she stomach emptied itself out, dry heaves making their way out of her throat.

"What-where?" She rasped out, her mind foggy and clouded, as if just waking up from a dream. She could almost feel her brain working in overdrive to get its bearings again. She looked up and caught sight of several trees and, beyond those, Hogwarts castle. As her eyes adjusted to the change in light she saw several of the windows of the castle light up in reds and blues and a few wild spells fly out of windows and into the distance, sure signs that fighting was still going on. She pushed her vision upwards, her neck painfully complaining as she did so, and saw the Astronomy Tower, alive with the sounds of spellfire and thunder and tremendous explosions. Before her eyes she saw thunder clouds forming around it, flashes of lightning. She gasped when she saw a white flash and then a side of the tower bulge out before exploding outwards.

"HARRY!" she screamed as she made to stand up only to falter as her lag gave out under her own weight. She'd have looked down to see that she had sprained her ankle and had a large gash aside from that, but her attention was focused entirely on the Astronomy Tower. She knew that Harry was up there. She winced in pain, her whole body burning and reminding her of the trashing she'd taken from Voldemort's wand only a few moments ago. She threw out a hand, intent on crawling her way back if necessary when she realized one of her arms wouldn't respond. She looked down at her wand arm, painfully twisted at unnatural angles and bloody all over, the sight and pain causing her to retch once again, tears forming in her eyes.

"Harry," she muttered before gritting her teeth, ignoring the pain, and dragging herself forward with her one useful arm, her legs providing additional power, dirt and grass and tree roots fighting her every inch of the way as she did so.

"You aren't going to do this to me," she muttered as she crawled her way towards the castle, her broken arm throbbing uselessly and painfully at her side. "You aren't doing this to me Harry Potter. You don't get to send me away like this; you don't get to make that choice for me. I don't know how you did it, but I know it was you, I-" she stopped to cough up more blood; she painfully realized that her breathing was becoming labored.

"Ruptured lungs," Hermione said lazily as she continued on, "Or punctured lungs, I don't know for sure…" She kept her gaze on the castle before her. "Harry, you'll beat him." She heard thunder; saw flashes of spellfire fill the night sky. "You'll beat him; you'll beat his bigot scum followers."

One of her legs stopped responding altogether.

"I've kissed you 17 times, I know, I've counted. 17 wonderful times. I'm going to kiss you 17 more times. A hundred more times. A thousand more." She paused as she made her way over a particularly large tree root that stuck out of the ground. "A million more times."

Her vision was becoming blurry.

"I'm going to see you naked, you're going to see me naked. You are going to take my virginity-oh," she felt a sharp pain her left eye, her vision becoming tinted red. "I'm going to marry you, I'll propose if I have to. My parents will love you, father will want you to play his stupid games…"

More thunder and sounds of magical explosions in the distance.

"We'll have kids…" she stopped moving, her head hitting the ground with a soft thud, cushioned by a patch of moss. "Maybe I'll ask Lavender or Luna to be their godmother… or name one of them after them…"

_Oh, I can't move._

"We'll grow old together, Harry," she wheezed, "I know it."

Her vision was completely tinted red, she felt a soft warm feeling envelop her, and despite her injuries she felt quite fine. Her vision became clouded with red, though she got the feeling it wasn't from blood in her eyes. She saw Harry's green eyes looking straight at her.

_Harry._

_Harry!_

"Harry!"

Hermione's eyes snapped open as she suddenly jerked upwards, a sharp shooting pain all across her body momentarily stunning her before she felt hands press firmly down on her shoulders.

"Miss Granger, please calm down." A soft voice called out, one that Hermione recognized as Madam Pomfrey's. "You are in the Hospital Wing, We found you aft-"

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked, her mouth feeling like a dry desert. "Where is he?"

"Mister Potter is fine, he's- Miss Granger you can't walk around in your condition!"

Hermione was hearing none of that, she had been scanning the room for Harry's form as soon as she had woken up and caught sight of him a few beds over. She immediately jumped out of bed, wincing as her feet made contact with the cold ground, ignoring the limp she walked with, and made her way over to Harry's prone form, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's protests. He looked like he was in a bad shape; he had bruises all over and several magical bandages stuck on his body, his breathing was labored, both his legs encased in casts, his right hand bandaged and set with a splint, foul smelling herbs applied here and there to his skin.

"Mister Potter will recover," Madam Pomfrey said in a soft, reassuring tone, putting her hands on Hermione's shoulders for comfort. "I know it's in your nature to worry about him Miss Granger, but trust me when I say he'll be fine, he's just resting and you should be too." Hermione felt a soft nudge, "You should get back to bed Miss Granger, I know how close you and Mister Potter have become recently and..." Madam Pomfrey paused for a moment, "Well, he wouldn't want to see you like this would he?"

Hermione glanced down at herself, for the first time seeing her body wrapped in a mix of different magical bandages, her entire wand arm protected by a magically charmed cast, hundreds of small cuts all across her body along with purple bruises and the telltale marks of Dark spell damage, angry and violent looking scorch marks here and there. Hermione gasped as she took herself in and as the adrenaline that pushed her out of bed to find and see her Harry alive and before her wore off she began to register the immense weariness that seemed to seep out of her entire body.

"Madam Pomfrey," she asked as she looked up to the elderly woman. "What did Voldemort do to-how," she paused and swallowed down a lump that had formed in her throat. "How close was it? I mean… How close was he to-?"

Madam Pomfrey's eyes, Hermione now noticed, were incredibly red, she was sure that the elderly woman had been crying recently. Hermione could make out the almost imperceptible quiver in her lips. "He was close." She whispered. "You both were."

Hermione felt incredibly sick.

And also felt overjoyed that she was alive and that Harry was alive.

"I won't leave him." Hermione declared, "I'll transfigure his bed to be a double, I'll lay down next to him and-"

"And your movement's will surely cause him pain," Madam Pomfrey said in a kind voice, "Miss Granger, I understand your concern but not only would it be a terrible idea to share his bed, but you'd also put yourself at risk." Hermione gave her a confused look. "See the herbs I've placed on him? They combat the injuries caused from dark magic. You had some on yourself, though since your injuries were… You don't need it anymore. However, continued exposure to Darkroot is harmful to a healthy body, should you stay in close proximity to him his medicine would act like poison to you."

Hermione stared hard at the elderly woman, realizing that she wasn't making rules to keep her apart from Harry, but informing her why, for Harry's sake, she'd have to keep her distance. "I suppose," she sighed after a while before turning around and facing an empty bed, "Is anyone using this bed?" she asked, feeling rather silly since the bed was completely empty. When Madam Pomfrey shook her head Hermione immediately set off and tried to drag it closer to Harry's cot, her back preventing her from even moving the entire thing an inch. "This would be much easier if-oh yes!" she gasped, somewhat embarrassed that she had temporarily forgotten her wand. She was about to reach into her pocket when she remembered that she was wearing the gowns given to patients of the Hospital Wing and, she also realized, she wasn't even sure where her wand was since she'd lost it in the battle with Voldemort. For all she knew it might have been lost somewhere… or a Death Eater had taken it with them. "Madam Pomfrey, has my wand turned up anywhere? I must have misplaced it."

"Mister Potter has it," Madam Pomfrey gestured over to Harry's bedside table, her wand lying beside Harry's.

"Harry had it. Am I correct?" Hermione asked as she retrieved her wand, smiling at the fact that it had come throughout the entire ordeal unscathed, turning it over and over in her fingers. She shielded the wand from Harry as she muttered a quick lumos spell, the warmth that casting magic brought her easing some of her physical discomfort.

"Yes," she heard Madam Pomfrey say behind her. "We found him in the Astronomy Tower clutching onto it for dear life. He's the one who told us where to find you." There was a momentary pause which caused Hermione to turn around, the nearby cot pushed up against her legs, Madam Pomfrey's retreating back facing her. "Please alert me if his condition changes Miss Granger. Mind the other patients and most importantly do try to get some rest. You can fuss over Mister Potter in the morning."

Hermione sighed, wordlessly plopping down on the nearby cot, her eyes feeling heavy and her mind drifting into sleep almost immediately.

"Isn't that adorable?" A voice cooed just as Hermione's eyes drifted shut.

"Oh it is," a second voice, Parvati's, chimed in. "I'm glad to see that their love is blossoming even under these winter cond-"

"Oh not this again." A third voice, which sounded like Fay's, spoke up.

Hermione groaned as the three chattering girls woke her up, she forced her eyes open, Harry's sleeping face the first thing that greeted her. A quick jolt of fear ran through her body when she saw him lie completely still before her conversation with Madam Pomfrey made its way back towards her mind. _He's just asleep._ As the girls continued on their conversation Hermione took a moment to look him over before her eyes trailed down to her hand. It seemed as if her hand had automatically reached out and clasped his free hand sometime between the moment she closed her eyes and right now.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty is awake." Lavender called from across the room, Hermione turning to look at the girl as she sat by Parvati, the dark skinned girl laying in her own hospital bed. "Good morning, by the way. Sleep alright?"

"Sleep?" Hermione huffed as she sent the two a glare, "How would I get any sleep with you two chattering immediately? Go to sleep, it's late." She told the two, the dull ache all over her body making her feel more irritated than she usually would.

"We have been sleeping," Parvati said as Lavender fluffed her pillow for her, "It's three in the afternoon right now. Hermione, you've been here two days now."

"What?" Hermione looked out of the windows, finding the same shady, overcast sky she last remembered though now that it had been pointed out to her she could easily that the sun was shining through the overcast. "I see…" she said, wondering how she was able to sleep so long and not remember any of it. She turned to look at Lavender and Parvati and took in their appearance, the two of them seemed to be alright, though Parvati seemed to have received more injuries than Lavender if her bedridden position was any indication. "Are you two alright?"

The two looked at each other before nodding, "I'm fine, just a few burns and small cuts, nothing major. I was with Ron, Professor Lupin and that other lady, so I wasn't in much danger." She sighed as she looked at her hair, which appeared shorter than usual. "Except my hair, a spell flew too close to it and burned some of it off."

Parvati rolled her eyes as Lavender hit her in the shoulder, "I'm fine too, so don't worry about me. I was just hit by a strong bludgeoning charm that threw out my back-"

"Like an old granny," Lavender interrupted,

"-so I can't really move around too much. And though it's not serious Madam Pomfrey let me stay in."

"I see." Hermione replied before looking around the room, spotting Fay. "Oh! Where's are the others, did everyone-?"

"Yeah we all made it," Fay's responded. "I'm glad you're awake since now I won't have to listen to these to go on and on about how "adorable" it is that you were holding HP's hand all throughout your sleep." The girl said in a teasing tone, "I'm a girl too but… these two obsess over that kinds of stuff."

"That they do." Hermione said as she saw Fay wearing an eye patch. "Is your eye ok?"

"Oh it's fine, just got a nasty, nasty scratch in my eye so I have to wear this while it heals." She leaned in, a completely useless gesture given that she was across from Hermione. "Honestly, I think it makes me look tough and cool. It'll be a cool story to tell when I'm in Auror training."

Hermione simply smiled, unsure how she felt about the fact that she had to wear an eye patch because she'd been dragged into their fight. "And Clara? Is she alright?"

"She's fine, suffered lot of burns, but got out of here quick. She just doesn't like the Hospital Wing so much, she left as soon as she could."

"Ron and Neville too," Parvati added, "I don't think they were comfortable with us girls sharing the room with them. They left as soon as Madam Pomfrey gave them a clean bill of health." she crossed her arms and huffed in anger. "Which is rude of them, leaving injured ladies unattended." She sighed dramatically, upset at the thoughtlessness of the male gender. "My sister is right over there sleeping off her boredom. Her ears will heal in time by the way, so don't worry about her either."

"Long story short," Lavender added, lazily swaying in her seat. "You don't have to worry about any of us, we all got away with minor injuries at best, but because we've never been through this sort of thing we've all been a little out of it." She stopped her swaying and sighed, ". Ron, Neville and Luna have it the easiest since they've been through this type of thing. Clara's taken it the hardest, she's still jumpy and has trouble sleeping… well, she's had it the hardest next to you and Harry."

"Neville found Luna then?" Hermione asked, glad to hear that Luna had made it out alive.

"Yeah, she's fine. Well, they had to regrow her eyes but-"

"What?" Hermione shrieked, "What do you mean they had to regrow their eyes?"

"Well, it looked pretty safe," Lavender said, before Fay cut in.

"I asked Madam Pomfrey about it since we both had eye injuries right? Well, all I had was just a scratch, probably from some chips of stone from whatever spell knocked my flat on my arse during the fighting. Luna had her eyes scorched by some magical fire so Madam Pomfrey just turned her eyes to jelly, poured them out and threw in some goop in their place. She had to wear these ridiculous goggle-like things while the goop formed new eyeballs. She took off the goggles a bit early once and one of her eyes just kinda… melted out of its socket."

Hermione's horror was mirrored in Lavender and Parvati's faces, who also looked slightly sick.

"Luckily you didn't see any of that," Lavender shuddered, "I don't know how Fay over there could sit and watch the procedure."

"So where is Luna then?"

"Oh, she left as soon as the procedure was over, said she wanted to see if her new eyes could help her find Rumpled Horn Snorlacks." She added, waving her hand in a "I don't quite remember" gesture. "She's doing fine too."

Hermione fell back in her bed and breathed a huge sigh of relief, immensely glad that all of her friends had made it out alive. Injured but alive.

"Dumbledore is dead."

Her statement hung in the air, any further conversation from the three other girls dying in their throats. Hermione simply turned in her cot, reaching out for Harry's hand again. She found some comfort in simply holding his hand, sometimes giving it a soft squeeze or rubbing her thumb on his hand or running her fingers along it. She found it much easier to consider recent events if she was in physical contact with her love, found that the world didn't seem to be falling apart at the seams if she held on to him. She wondered what would happen now that the Headmaster was gone. Would the Order disband? Would the Death Eaters announce his death at their hands? If they did, how would magical Britain react? What would happen to Hogwarts? She idly mused that Professor McGonagall would be the obvious choice to place as the head of the school, but, and this seemed likely, if the Board of Governors thought the school unsafe, would they allow the school to be reopened? Would anyone even want to attend the school if it was opened? She looked at Harry and wondered what had happened with Voldemort. She hadn't asked because something told her that no one knew what had happened beside Harry. She had been in that fight and even she didn't know what happened at the last of it but of course the one who had that answer _must_ also be Harry. She was certain Voldemort had no intention of sending her to the Forbidden Forest, and while she might have somehow used a bout of powerful accidental magic to flee from danger she didn't want to believe that her gut instincts were to run from danger and leave Harry in danger. Her entire life's experience had told her otherwise.

So Harry must have done it.

Hermione mused over the various ways that he could have done so. She figured he might have Apparated her, she also silently wondered how he'd react to being the first person to force another person to Apparate, through the castle's Anti-Apparition wards. Or perhaps…

She closed her eyes, his hand still in hers as she gave him another squeeze.

_Oh, it doesn't really matter._

She kept her gaze on him, thankful that he'd followed his gut and kept his suspicions of Malfoy at the front of his mind, if it wasn't for him-

Hermione paused as she felt something suddenly wash all over her.

Harry had been _right._

Harry had been right about Malfoy.

And worst of all, the thought that chilled Hermione's blood, is that _not a single person believed him._

Harry had argued, insisted, even _pleaded_ with Ron and her to believe him. He _knew_, he had told them over and over, _knew_ that Malfoy was up to something. His lack of any public taunting, he'd told the two of them, indicated that he was trying to stay unnoticed and "Malfoy" he'd gone on to say, "never wants to stay unnoticed unless he's up to something." He'd told them that he was up to something in the Room of Requirement and Hermione would bet her entire allowance that this entire mess had started from the Room of Requirements. She had chided him when he set both Dobby and Kreacher on their mission to follow and report on Malfoy's movements.

She wondered if things had gone differently if she'd believed him. Maybe if she had admitted that he was right to suspect Malfoy Ron would have also agreed, maybe with the two of them sharing Harry's suspicion they would have actually followed Malfoy and confronted him or at least figured out his plan and found some way to prevent it from being completed or, at the very least, told a professor or staff member to be wary of the young Malfoy.

Instead no one believed him and no one tried to help him figure what Malfoy was up to, no one attempted to help him put a stop to whatever plan he was working on.

And now Hogwarts had been attacked, her friends had been hurt or were still in the Hospital Wing, she'd almost died alongside Harry and Dumbledore had died.

She didn't have much time to dwell on this when she saw Harry begin to stir. She immediately rushed to his side, holding his hand and began softly talking to him before looking over at Lavender and gesturing in the direction of Madam Pomfrey's office. She then turned back to face Harry and immediately leaned in and gave him a long hard kiss, Harry slightly jumping in surprise as she did so, evidentially not recognizing who she was. An instant later he began to relax and return her kiss, his free hand ending up buried in her mane of hair as he pulled her closer. Hermione felt her kiss grow feverish and fast, an urgency that she hadn't felt in any of their previous kisses, she felt Harry squeeze her hand, noticed that she'd moved her other hand over his chest and felt his heartbeat, his heart furiously hammering in his chest, she felt her mouth part slightly and her tongue quickly brush against his, felt her body grow warm and an uncomfortably pleasant sensation begin to grow between her legs, felt the insane yammering in her mind that told her to hang on to Harry for dear life because she could have died and that only a few moments ago she had been crawling through dirt and muck with a broken arm and punctured lung and staring death in the face and suddenly jumped back when Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat and Parvati and Lavender giggled from their spot across the room.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey's voice was, to Hermione's embarrassment, slightly amused. "A form of medicine I can't provide. Although I'm not sure the excitement is good for Mister Potter in this state." Hermione turned away from the older lady, her hand still entwined with Harry's as she tried to get herself under control, Harry looking at her with a beaming expression which fell as he saw her various injuries and cast.

"Hermione, you-" he began as he made to sit up, wincing as he did so.

"You need to rest." she cooed, "Don't worry, I'll get better," she continued as she knelt down and started kissing his hand, "It's over, don't worry." She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss, the man of her dreams calming down as she did so.

"Take Miss Granger's advice to heart Mister Potter, you are in no condition to be moving about, now Miss Granger, if you could please let me see the patient?" Hermione once again had to slowly move away from Harry to give Madam Pomfrey access to check his bandages. "Ah, well it seems you no longer require the Darkroot Mister Potter," she said as she conjured a small tray to place the herbs that had dotted parts of his body, "Darkroot is quite a chore to use. As I told Miss Granger last night, it acts as a poison to healthy tissue as the accumulated Dark energy begins to leak out of it. These wounds will heal up on their own, how do you feel Mister Potter?"

"Ah, I'm fine."

Hermione glared at him.

"I feel a little sore."

"Yes, I suppose you do." Madam Pomfrey remarked as she gave Hermione a knowing look. "You shouldn't lie to your physician Mister Potter, you can't get better if you lie. Here, drink this potion." She made certain to watch as Harry drank down the foul tasting potion. "You know you are all incredibly lucky that you weren't directly hit with any serious Dark curses. Most of what actually hit you were normal curses, intended to harm or kill most certainly, but not true Dark curses."

Hermione scowled, remembering the side effects of Dolohov's curse.

"Well Mister Potter, as long as you stay in bed and get some rest you should be set to walk out of here tomorrow." She finished waving her wand over Harry, her diagnostic spells fading from view. "I hope, Mister Potter, that I don't see you here next year. My old heart can't bear seeing you like this anymore… I'm sure mine amongst others."

"Yes, sorry for making you worry." He sheepishly said.

"Don't be dear boy." Madam Pomfrey said kindly before leaving.

"You gave us a scare you know," Lavender said from her seat before walking over and giving him a friendly hug, "I don't know how the bookworm here has been your friend so long without suffering a heart attack."

"Sometimes I wonder." Harry replied easily as he looked over to Hermione.

"Oh, I don't have to wonder." Parvati called out, "I'd go over and give you a big kiss myself but I can barely move. So you get away this time."

"Hey HP," they heard Fay call out from her bed before she also walked over, "I knew you'd walk out of this fine, I wasn't too worried." She said in a teasing tone, Hermione being able to see through her lie easily. "Look at this eye patch. It makes me look tough right?"

Hermione caught Harry look at her out of the corner of her eye, unsure how to respond, she inclined her head in a small nod.

"Sure does Fay. Is everyone alright?" He asked as he looked around the room, "What happened?"

"Hey, I'll go get Neville, Ron and Luna," Lavender cut in, "while Harry here gets caught up on what happened while he was gone. Glad to have you back Harry." She said before turning off and walking out of the Hospital Wing.

"So, what happened?" Harry asked while Hermione sat down on her bed, still close enough to hold his hand and run her hand through his hair. Hermione began explaining the series of events that happened after he left the castle with his warning up to the moment she walked into the Astronomy Tower looking for him. "Beyond that however," she admitted, "I don't know _how_ they got into the school or what's happened since then. I've been asleep since it happened, it's been two days since then by the way, so I haven't been in a position to learn anything new."

"They came out of the Room of Requirement," Fay said, "Through some portal inside-"

"The Vanishing Cabinet," Harry muttered darkly, "Malfoy probably repaired it!"

"Uh, oh well, maybe, I dunno." Fay said, somewhat started at the venom in Harry's voice, Hermione squeezing his hand, once again feeling terrible that she hadn't believed him when he obviously had figured out much of Malfoy's plan. "Since Malfoy hasn't' been seen since…"

"Malfoy was there," Harry growled out. "He was with the Death Eaters at the Astronomy Tower, Snape too!" He winced, his body shooting in pain as he began to get riled up. "They're both Death Eaters. They've probably run back with the rest of their lot." He looked over to the entrance doors, seeing Lavender return with Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna in tow.

"Hey mate!" Ron said as he walked over and gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. "Glad to see you up."

"You too," Harry replied before being hugged by Luna, the blonde girl looking at Harry with her big, dreamy eyes.

"Hey Harry," Neville said as Luna continued to stare at him, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, now. Looks like everyone got out fine?" At their collective shrug Harry turned around and looked back at Luna.

Hermione turned to look at Ginny, who seemed uncharacteristically tame. "Hey," she said with a small smile, looking at their joined hands, "Glad to see you two made it." She then gave the two of them a brief and incredibly awkward hug.

"You look a little different," Luna said. "And I'm not sure it's just because of my new eyes."

"New eyes?"

That had launched a discussion on what had exactly happened to each person during the battles. Luna had charged the Death Eaters while firing blindly and somehow made it out fine, she didn't know exactly how as she couldn't see what had happened. A short while later Neville had found her and the two had run into a group of Death Eaters that they then led on a wild goose chase through most of the castle grounds, ending in them eventually running back in the direction of the Room of Requirement, now unguarded, and finding it still open to the form of a empty room with a single piece of furniture in it, the Vanishing Cabinet presumably. Lavender and Ron, for their part, spent most of the battle in the Entrance Hall with Professor Lupin, Ginny and the Auror named Mathilda. They had been fighting alongside another member of the Order, but he had gone off to look for Moody and Tonks and never returned. Parvati and her twin sister had stayed outside the Entrance Hall, mainly to keep Padma out of the fighting since, with no hearing, she would be in the greatest amount of danger. At some point in the battle a pair of Death Eaters stumbled up a set of stairs, Hermione realizing that these were probably the same Death Eaters that had nearly caught her after she'd been separated with Luna, and caught Parvati with a wide bludgeoning curse that left her with her current back problems, Padma knocking them back down the stairs with a hex of her own, the two Death Eaters never making a re-appearance. Fay admitted that they fared the worst of the entire team since they were in an area of the castle that began leading straight to the Headmaster's office, which mean that there weren't many paths they could go through to hide or run, they'd ended up being trapped rather easily and, since neither her nor Clara had any actual experience with actual fighting they'd been easy prey, escaping only because the Death Eaters thought them knocked out and then hiding in an unused classroom.

Throughout all of this Hermione noticed how each person told their stories. Neville, Ron and Luna, who had all been in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, told the story somewhat matter-o-factly, the only differences accounted by their differences in personality. Neville didn't seem to take pride in the fact that he was shooting off curses at people, even if they were Death Eaters. Luna told her story in much the same manner she told her tales of magical creatures, sprinkling in her own odd comments here or there. Ron seemed to embellish the most and though his exaggerations weren't incredibly unbelievable he did try to make himself seem less scared than Hermione knew him to be.

_Though,_ she mused, _that might be because there are so many girls around him right now._

Lavender and Parvati, who hadn't been in the D.A. were still somewhat shook up by the entire thing, they almost had to push themselves to remember what had happened and often times had to pause to compose themselves.

Fay, as Hermione expected, was trying to cover up her shame at being "so completely useless" by pretending to be tougher than she was, though didn't fault the girl for doing so since she knew people coped in different manners.

Clara and Padma, she assumed, had left the Hospital Wing in a form of denial, if they stuck around they'd be constantly reminded of their injuries, if they left and pretended everything was fine they could put it out of their minds. Hermione made sure that everyone knew to talk to them or keep an eye on them.

While they began to talk about the future of the school or what would happen now that Dumbledore was dead, his funeral was being planned for the next few days, Madam Pomfrey showed up and told the group that they'd have to vacate the Hospital Wing since, even if there weren't any classes scheduled for the remainder of the year, the patients still required enough sleep and relaxation to heal properly. She shooed the protesting students away, leaving the Wing back to its original occupants.

It was during this time that Hermione lay in her own cot, holding Harry's hand as he took a short kip on Madam Pomfrey's orders that Hermione's mind once again started thinking about how close she had come to dying and losing Harry forever. She thought of a future without him and, once that idea had terrified her sufficiently, she began to panic. She remembered all the things she'd promised Harry in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest as she crawled along on her bloody hand and heard the sounds of thunder, remembered the feeling of her body shutting down, she remembered Voldemort and the terrible power he commanded. She had been terrified. There'd never been a moment in her life where she'd been more terrified than in that single moment where she had suddenly been turned around and come face to face with Voldemort himself.

She lay in bed as a sinking feeling started to develop in the pit of her stomach.

She admitted to herself that, while Harry would end up confronting Voldemort, prophecy or no prophecy, there was absolutely no guarantee that she'd live. Muggleborns were being targeted by the Death Eaters, she was Harry's best friend, she opposed Voldemort and his Death Eaters, she'd been integral to foiling several of his previous plans.

_I have to admit,_ she thought blankly, _I've made a big target of myself._

It was a strange world now, she mused darkly, Dumbledore's death proved that anyone could die. And, as much as she hated to admit it, Voldemort was right. Harry, Dumbledore, Voldemort, they were magical giants, immensely powerful. And what was she? Just a plain girl with book smarts. Now that she looked back the battle she knew the only reason she had survived that long was because of the Felix Felicis potion and because Voldemort had been toying with them.

And she was surely on Voldemort's hit list.

She saw Madam Pomfrey move about and check up on Parvati before coming over to her. Hermione quickly shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep, Madam Pomfrey muttering something that sounded like "Goodnight dears" after checking on Harry before leaving the Hospital Wing, closing the doors behind her.

Hermione immediately jumped out of bed and made her way to the doors Madam Pomfrey had just gone through and slightly opened one, peeking through the small opening she'd made. She pointed her wand through the opening and muttered a spell a small blue light darting from her wand to the far end of the hall before disappearing. She closed the door again and went back to her cot, sitting at the edge while biting her lip in nervousness and concentration.

She aimed her wand at herself, "Gravido impedire."

She stood up on shaking legs and drew the privacy screen around Harry's cot, the boy waking up when the movement of the screens startled him.

"Shhh," She whispered as she leaned in and touched her forehead with his, her hair sliding down like curtains around their faces. "It's me, it's just me."

"Oh, Hermione," he said as he stared into her eyes. "What is it? Is anything wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong my captain," she replied sweetly, her breath shaky. "I just want to be with you. I-," she paused, "How do you feel?"

"I feel pretty fine now actually," he replied as Hermione leaned back up to see him move his legs freely and sit up in his bed, "Madam Pomfrey always works wonders. How do you feel my lady?"

Hermione smiled, not only because he was concerned for her but also because he'd called her by her little nickname. "I'm fine now," she lied, "I just wanted to talk to you my captain." She then moved onto Harry's cot and, startling Harry, straddled him.

"Hermione what are you doing?" Harry asked as he sat up only to find Hermione's hands on his chest pushing him back down.

"Nothing," she replied, her heart pounding in her chest, her nerves fried and her hands shaking. "I'm just sitting," she leaned down and began trailing kisses along his neck, Harry shivering under her treatment, before capturing his lips in a fiery kiss. She continued to snog him for the next minute before she parted her lips and tentatively slipped her tongue into his mouth.

"Hermione," Harry said before she pressed herself against him again and continued to snog him and he jumped a little when he felt her put her hands under his shirt and felt another tugging at his pants. "Hermione, what are you doing?" he managed to gasp out.

"Like I said," Hermione breathed out as she whispered in his ear, her hands fumbling in the dark as she reached up and began unbuttoning her shirt, "I'm just sitting and talking to you."

"This doesn't look like talki-" Harry managed before Hermione's shirt was fully unbuttoned, her bra covered breasts in full view. He reached up and quickly closed up her shirt, his face a look of complete shock. "What are you doing?" he hissed, as he looked around, scanning for silhouettes behind the privacy screen.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Hermione said, her nerves fried, she really had no clue what she was doing or if she should even be here or if Harry even wanted her to do this, but she felt she had to because if she didn't do this now she might not get ever get a chance. "I'm trying to tell you something Harry," she said as clearly as she could before she grabbed one of his hands and put it to her breast, frowning when Harry reacted as if he'd just touched a hot stove, her blouse falling open as he withdrew his hands. "Harry," she breathed, her heart feeling as if it was in her throat, "I want you to make love to me."

Harry looked up at her in shock.

"I've already cast the contraceptive charm," she said, her face burning red but growing in determination. "I put up the-oh!" she reached for her wand and muttered a privacy spell. "Now we've got a privacy charm around us in addition to the screen," she said, "I put up an alarm charm at the end of the hall outside, it should give us enough time to..." she blushed at him, thankful that the moonlight wasn't enough to show evidence of her nervousness, "We should have enough time to separate."

"You want to," Harry gulped, "You want to do that here?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, Parvati and Fay shouldn't hear anything as long as we aren't too energetic. We'll have to keep our clothing on in case we need to separate if someone starts heading in our direction," she looked down at him and could feel his excitement between her legs, causing her to feel light headed. "We are both virgins," she paused and looked at him, a silent question on her mind. She beamed when he nodded, "So… so we shouldn't last long." She reached down and began to pull down his pants and boxers, her other hand grabbing Harry.

"Hermione," Harry gasped as he grabbed her arm and pulled her hand away from him. "No."

"No what?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"No as in we aren't going to do this."

"What?" Hermione said atop of Harry.

"Hermione," he began, keeping his eyes on hers as he once again reached up and grasped her shirt and gently closed it up again, slowly buttoning up the shirt. "I don't want our first time to be like this, in a hospital cot, sneaking around and not taking our time, having to worry about waking out our friends a few beds over."

"I see," Hermione said, "Well… we can wait until we are released, I can talk to the girls and we can sneak you into my dorm and-"

"No," Harry said softly, "I don't want that either."

"Fine, we'll use your dorm room," Hermione began in a huff.

"No!" Hermione slightly jumped at the tone of Harry's voice. "I don't want that either."

Hermione frowned and slapped his hands away, closing up her shirt and suddenly feeling incredibly foolish. "When?" she asked, "When are we going to do this then Harry?" she demanded, her foolish embarrassment giving way to an anger born out of rejection. "Or do you not want to do this with me? Is that it?"

"No, that's not-"

"Do I not have a nice body? Or do you wish I was blonde with big grey eyes?" she asked, motioning to get off of him, tears stinging at her eyes. "I don't understand you Harry, if you don't want to do this with me then… then maybe we shouldn't be together since-"

"Hermione," Harry interrupted, "I will _not_ do this with you if the only reason you are doing so is because you are scared."

"Scared?" Hermione glared at him, "Why do you think I'm scared? You don't think I just want to? How dare you Harry James Potter!" she shrieked, ready to slap him before he sat up and embraced her.

"I'm scared too." he whispered in her ear, causing her to take in a deep breath. "But I don't want to do this just because we are scared."

Hermione tried to struggle against his embrace, though her efforts were half-hearted at best and soon she began to sob, "He was so powerful," she cried, "And you almost died Harry! You almost died!" she pounded a fist into his chest, "And don't you ever do that to me again! DON'T YOU EVER SEND ME AWAY!" she looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes. "Don't think I'm some damsel in distress Harry Potter, some weak girl that can't handle the same danger you can! I'm with you until the end you git, you stupid noble idiot," she threw her arms around him, her tears falling freely now as she began to cry openly, "What would have happened had you died? What would I have done then?" she cried, "Don't you do that again, don't ever leave me again."

She felt Harry run his hand through her hair, his other hand rubbing circles in her back in an attempt to calm her down. "I'm sorry." He whispered as her body continued to shudder as she cried.

"I love you," Hermione whispered.

"Oh." Harry replied softly, "You love me?" Hermione nodded at his response, somewhat amused by his response. She felt him hug her tighter, his head buried in her hair. She could almost feel his smiling like a madman against her hair.

"That's brilliant." He said, joy evident in his voice. "That's brilliant." He repeated.

Hermione continued to hug him, her mind clearing up after the whirlwind of emotions she'd just experienced.

"I love you too."


	17. Leaving the Nest

**AN: **So thank you again for the reviews, for putting this on your favorites list, stuff like that. So like I said, this is the second to last chapter, although there might be an epilogue type thing if anyone wants that.

Also, I'm terribly sorry about the near month between updates, I promise the last chapter won't take a month to show up.

By the way, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have something in your life you are thankful for.

* * *

**Leaving the Nest**

Hermione felt as exhausted as she did at Hogwarts, if not even more so. Harry, and the impending task that was the Horcrux hunt, was constantly on her mind and, as a result, she'd holed herself up in her room and constantly prepared. She'd spent much of her own savings buying sleeping bags, nonperishable foods, various medical kits Muggle and magical, bandages, magical potions and ingredients, anything she thought they'd need on their quest. She was sure her parents knew about her covert trips to the nearby camping stores and her Apparitions to Diagon Alley to buy all these things, sure they knew something was bothering her beyond the death of Dumbledore and knew she was planning something but, if they did, they didn't mention it.

She sighed in frustration as she watched another bag she had unsuccessfully charmed with the Undetectable Extension simply fold itself up and vanish into itself.

"This shouldn't be happening," she growled in frustration as she tried to discover the point of failure in her previous attempts. It was frustrating to say the least, not only because the charm itself was a difficult one to cast but because she knew she _had_ to get the charm right; the task they were going to take was dangerous and could be the single most important thing in recent wizarding history. Success meant Voldemort could be defeated, failure… well, she didn't want to think about failure.

But most importantly Harry was counting on her.

She had a wry grin on her face as she went on to work on another bag as she realized that Harry was at the top of her list of concerns.

_When wasn't he at the top of my concerns?_

She remembered arguing with Harry after Dumbledore's funeral about the need to go out and search for the remaining pieces, Dumbledore's death had made Harry's impulsiveness resurface and he wanted to go and search right then and there but she had talked him down. They didn't have a plan or any supplies she had told him, they weren't in any sort of mental state to start their journey just then and Harry still had the Trace on his wand, he'd be easily tracked if they had started. She also remembered how she had reminded him that she'd be there with him. Ron too. She knew that he had planned to go it alone, presumably out of some heroic selfless act that would keep her and Ron out of danger, but reminded him that she'd never forgive him if he tried to send her away for her own good again. In the end they'd agreed that they'd wait until after Bill's wedding to set off on their journey; they all agreed that seeing that wedding would put them in the high spirits they'd need for their job.

She continued to work on the bag for a few minutes before deciding that she needed a break, there was no use working on a complicated charm while being so frustrated. She'd need to calm down and return to this with a clear head. She moved over to her bed where she summoned a pile of letters she had by her windowsill, all from her new friends. They'd all written her shortly after their tearful departure from King's Cross. She had read them all several times over, treasuring them as the first letters she'd received from friends besides Harry or Ron, and responded to all of them. None of her friends knew what her plans were except that, along with Harry and Ron, she wouldn't be returning for her final year of Hogwarts and would instead be doing "something" to take down Voldemort. She'd written all of them to keep their heads low or, at the very least, be aware of what was going on, practice as many Defense spells as they knew and be wary of anyone that they even remotely thought might be associated with the Death Eaters. Deciding that she didn't want to reread those letters, mainly because doing so would cause her to miss her new friends even more, she turned to her bookshelf and decided to do some reading. An hour later Hermione sat on her bed, silently reading over one of her books, though honestly she wasn't enjoying her choice of reading material. Lovecraft's works weren't the type you read when you wanted to get out of a down mood, if anything it just made her feel worse. She grimaced as she read one of the descriptions for a monstrosity that sounded like a giant Metamorphmagus amoeba when she jumped at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Oh, _those_ books." Her mother dryly commented as she walked into Hermione's room, "I hate those books, I don't know why I let your father talk me into reading those books once, I got nightmares for weeks." She walked around the room as she looked at the various bookshelves Hermione had set up throughout her life. "Lots of books." She whispered. "Ah, _The Giving Tree!" _she said in excitement, "This was your favorite book when you were growing up."

Hermione smiled at her mother as she saw her pick out the small children's book from one of her shelves. Obviously she had something on her mind she wanted to talk about and Hermione welcomed the intrusion, hopeful that talking to her mother would lift her spirits. "Yes it was," she agreed, "But I read it a few years back and didn't find it as agreeable as when I was a child."

"Oh?" Her mother said as she leafed through the book.

"Yes," Hermione began as she quickly put away the book she had just been reading, glad to get rid of its gloomy material for the moment. "I found the child character to be selfish and greedy, though I can't really blame him in the beginning since he was a child and didn't know any better, but asking the tree to be chopped down to build a boat?" She scoffed in annoyance. "I don't know why I loved that book when I was little; it teaches children to be selfish.

"Ah," her mother smiled, "Yes, I used to think the tree was rather naïve about the fact that the child was taking advantage of it, but then my perspective changed and I don't feel so bad for the tree anymore."

Hermione's eyebrows scrunched together in thought, "What changed your perspective?"

"Motherhood," Jean responded kindly, "You changed so much for me darling."

"What do I have to do with your view on that book?" Hermione asked, confusion on her face.

"When you are a mother you should read this book again," Jean said as she moved about the room.

Hearing the phrase "When you are a mother" brought up images of Harry and their future together, causing Hermione to blush prettily, she wished she had kept her book in her hands to hide from her mother's beaming gaze.

"What's this?" she asked as she looked at the bag and several other test bags beside it, Hermione sitting up in alarm as she saw her mother inspect the charmed object. "Something for school?" She gasped a little as she turned the bag over and several large volumes fell out of the bag, "How did they-?" she asked before reaching into the bag, startled as her entire arm fell into the small purse sized bag before turning back to Hermione, a questioning look on her face.

Hermione answered quickly, "It's just a travel bag for my trip to the Burrow. For the wedding of Ron's older brother, don't you remember? I've told you about it for quite some time now."

Jean's back was turned to Hermione, hiding the incredulous look her face.

"How much space is in here?" she asked as she continued to rummage through the bag, her hand touching several books Hermione had placed in the bag as testing material. "You've never needed this much space before…"

A few uncomfortable seconds passed by as Hermione wondered what her mother was thinking. She saw her mother's shoulders slump before quickly turning around.

"Now, enough of that, tell me about Harry."

"I've already written you," she began after a moment, caught by surprise by her mother's abrupt question, "I've already told you about… well, everything." She was slightly wary of her mother's sudden change in tone, it was confusing to say the least.

"Yes you did write me," Jean said as she remembered the letters Hermione had sent home soon after her date with Harry, "But I want to hear it from you. Please?" she added as she saw Hermione hesitate. "Come on, you know you want to."

Hermione decide that her new train of questioning was preferable to her old one, she'd do whatever she could do to get her away from her experiments and supplies. She also had to admit to herself that her mother was right, she _did_ want to talk to her about Harry. "Alright, but what do you want me to talk about?" she said in a tone that she hoped didn't belie her eagerness to change the subject.

"Everything! Your father is gone out to buy some new game or something or other so we don't have to worry about him walking in here."

For the next hour or so Hermione retold her mother the entire story of her relationship with Harry. Unlike the last time she'd talked to her mother about her heart problems this time she wasn't terribly confused about her feelings for her two best friends, she could now look back on herself and laugh at how childish she had been to chase Ron while pushing Harry away only to end up chasing after Harry in the end. She told her about their flirting, her initial fears over his lack of any sort of physical contact-she'd felt mighty embarrassed when she had to hastily explain what she meant-their conversation on the common room couch, their first date and their first kiss. As she talked on and on about Harry her hands instinctively went to her necklace, softly running the small book charm over and over in her hand, while Jean gave her a knowing smile. She even admitted to her half-baked idea to seduce him so soon after the battle.

"Well young lady," Her mother said after she digested the last piece of information, "I'm not sure if I should be happy that he turned my daughter down and applaud his decision, disappointed that you tried such a move or laugh because I was right-you couldn't seduce a boy even if you tried!" Her mother descended into a fit of giggles.

Hermione's face went beet red, "Mum!" she said, "I didn't-mum if you don't stop laughing-!" she paused, realizing she couldn't do anything except stop the conversation. "I won't talk if you laugh at me mum."

Jean tried calming down, giggling a few more times as she saw Hermione's face, still flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry dear, you have to admit though, it is rather funny to think that you couldn't get Harry to _cooperate_." She let out a few more breathes before she got herself back under control. "Darling, she said as she laid a hand on Hermione's lap, "Look, I understand, really, I do. You were scared and wanted to be close to him so soon after… after so many terrible things. You wouldn't have been the first person to try such a thing and I'm sure you won't be the last but please dear…" she paused for a moment, "If it wasn't for Harry being such a good boy you, well you would have done something that you would have regretted later." Hermione nodded, she knew her mother was right. "I can't make you not have those feelings or experiment, just promise me you'll be careful?"

"I, I had the contraceptive charm on mum." Hermione admitted without looking at her eyes.

"Well, that's good." Jean said.

A few awkward moments passed while Hermione tried to wrap her head around her mother's advice to be careful. Her mother had always been honest with her, sometimes even with embarrassing subjects such as these, and had to admit that the advice to be careful with her sexual life wasn't unexpected it still jarred her to know that her mother accepted the possibility that she would become active with Harry with the same nonchalance that one accepted a boring workday on Tuesdays.

"So… at least you got a good snog out of him," Jean teased in an effort to continue the mother-daughter conversation, "Is he a good kisser? Please, no graphic details. I am your mother and, all kidding aside, you are still my baby daughter."

Hermione wasn't at all embarrassed by the question; rather she simply closed her eyes and brought a hand up to her lips. "His kissing is more than satisfactory." She remembered each and every one of their kisses, 42 so far according to her mental count, and smiled. "I don't plan on ever stopping."

Jean leaned in, hoping to tease her daughter, "That serious darling?"

Hermione turned to her mother, a complete vision of beauty as her face glowed, "Mum," she said with a musical tone, "He's the one."

Jean gasped, a hand coming up to her mouth. "You realize you sound so cliché right now?"

"Yes."

"You don't care?"

"I don't."

Hermione suddenly found herself being hugged by her mother, her breathing severely impaired by the crushing force the embrace.

"Oh, my darling baby has fallen in love!" she heard her mother whisper before her mother broke the huge, her arms still on her shoulders and the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Hermione felt her mother's warm eyes search her face as if she was looking at her for the first time in her life. "I never realized how quickly you've grown up." She whispered.

Hermione looked at her, "Mum?" she whispered, surprised that she was started to get teary eyed herself, "What are you talking about?"

"Your hair used to be soo bushy, look at it now." Jean said. "A year away from being an adult… and an adult in the wizard world, that's why you can do magic now right?" Hermione nodded, "And you're in love! _Love! _It's not a childish infatuation is it?" Hermione shook her head, "You aren't my little girl anymore," Jean whispered, "You've grown up. Strong, smart, beautiful. And I am so _proud_ of you." Hermione felt herself get captured in another bone crushing hug, her mother silently crying beside her before she threw her arms around her mother and hugged her too. She was crying and she didn't know why.

"Mum," she said as she tried to control herself, "I'm not leaving you, I-I," Suddenly Hermione looked at her mother and for the first time noticed the small beginnings of wrinkles, laugh lines appearing on her face or marks of worry on her forehead and then remembered how she looked when she was younger. Hermione had often looked up to her mother as a child and marveled at how beautiful she looked and wished she could be as beautiful as her. And now she was beginning to get wrinkles. She wasn't even sure why they both seemed to be crying; maybe it was because of Dumbledore's death, or because she'd have to run away soon with Harry and Ron to face the most powerful wizard alive, or because she realized that her mother was growing old and there was nothing she could do about it, or because she suddenly realized that the last time she had seen her mother start to cry was when she was at King's Cross as a know-it-all eleven year old about to go off to a magical school. Or maybe a mother and daughter didn't need a reason to hug each other and start crying. "Mum I love you," Hermione whispered as she felt her mother nod against her before she heard her muffled reply.

"I love you too darling."

"So I bought…"

Hermione looked over her mother's shoulder to see her father stupidly standing at her door, a newly packaged video game in his hand. His eyes darted back and forth between her and her mother before he looked straight at her. Jean motioned him to come and join him and before she knew it Hermione felt her father join in on their hug. And though she knew he had no clue what was going on why they were crying it wasn't as if she had any clue either.

"It'll be ok," he whispered as he rubbed circles into their backs, "It'll be ok."

It took a few moments for Hermione and her mother to calm themselves down, her mother finally separating and walking out of the room as she called out that she was going to get dinner ready. Now she stood there with her father.

"So why were you two crying?"

The rest of the days in her home passed as Hermione continued to work on charming a bag to carry all of their supplies. The atmosphere was odd to say the least; Hermione was positive her parents knew she was planning something and Hermione also go the feeling that her parents were tiptoeing around her and keeping their own secret though she couldn't guess what it might be.

"I leave for the Burrow tomorrow," she whispered to herself in the still of night, unable to sleep. She tossed and turned as she thought about her parents. She knew it wasn't safe for them anymore, it may have never been. She idly wondered why they hadn't been attacked yet in the previous Muggle attacks the Death Eaters had been carrying out. Maybe the Death Eaters didn't consider them valuable targets? Maybe they were on their hit list but the Death Eaters hadn't gotten around to them yet?

_It doesn't matter,_ she decided. _If they haven't been attacked before they would be now._

Facing Voldemort had put them at risk.

Yes, she'd always stood by Harry in his fight against him and the filth that followed him but she had never faced him personally. Now she had. She had stood by Harry's side, cast spells at Voldemort, looked at him defiantly and let him know that he wouldn't win, hurt and probably killed some of his Death Eaters. It had become common knowledge that the only reason Hogwarts had mustered up as many defenders as it had was because of her, it became known that several high ranking Death Eaters had been caught, injured or killed in the Battle of Hogwarts as they now called it. It was well known that Voldemort had been fought to a standstill by Harry, though no one know how, and, she liked to think, part of Harry's victory was due to her.

Hermione knew that all of this meant that she was now on Voldemort's radar. And nothing ever good ever came of that.

And so an idea began to grow and gnaw at her mind. She _had_ to get her parents to safety. But how? _No, there's no way…_ she concluded. There'd be no way they'd let her walk out of that door tomorrow if they knew she was planning on running away from the Burrow and go on off on an impossible mission. Realistically they couldn't stop her even if she wanted but that wasn't the problem. The problem was putting them out of harm's way.

_Maybe I should just tell them to leave the country for a while._

She knew they were informed about the wizarding world, they'd bought subscriptions to the _Daily Prophet_ as soon as they could, even going so far as paying the rather large fee for being Muggle subscribers, and knew all about the current on goings of the world she lived in. They also knew because she told them, she had always been honest with them. Though they didn't know all the exact details of her adventures at Hogwarts they knew enough to get an idea and they even knew about her part in the recent battle. They had never been mad at her; they seemed to understand that she had always acted to protect her friends and her school. The Philosopher's Stone, the events with the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius' innocence and the Ministry's attempt at killing Buckbeak in third year. Her fourth year didn't even really count, as that was the only year when she wasn't in any danger save the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament and even then that was a controlled danger. Fifth year they had a bit of trouble accepting since they pointed out that she _knew_ going to the Ministry was a trap, she had told Harry herself that it was and gotten herself severely injured.

But even with all that they never seemed to be angry. If anything she suspected they might have been proud of her for sticking to her friends. For doing what she thought was right even if it was dangerous.

But this was completely different.

There'd be no Professors or Headmaster to run to for advice or help, there'd be no Aurors or Order members to show up in case they found themselves surrounded and in need of a rescue, no books she could look up the answer in, no hospital wing to run to in case of injuries. It'd just be Harry, Ron and her against the Death Eaters.

And suppose she did tell them, told them what she was going to do and there was nothing they could do to stop her, she as going and that was final.

What then?

Would they go off and visit some other country for a while and simply wait for her to give them the all clear that it was safe to come back? What if they didn't wait? She wasn't sure she'd be able to send off any messages during their task and it could be months, even _years_, that they'd be traveling in search of the remaining Horcruxes. What if they waited and waited and waited and then, hearing no word from her, decide they'd come back and look for her themselves?

_I could use a compulsion charm,_ she considered, _Yes, ask them to leave then cast it on them, compelling them to stay away until I sent for them. It could-no, no, no, it won't work. Compulsion charms can be broken if they go against a strong instinct and a parent's concern for their children is one of the strongest instincts there are… _

She looked over at her nearby clock and could barely make out the hands on its face.

_Nearly 4:30._ She sighed in frustration, she needed a solution. And fast.

She couldn't be sure her parents would stay away for the entire time of their hunt and she was sure compulsion charms would fail, so what?

Her mouth went dry as an idea suddenly popped into her overworked mind.

_Obliviate._

_If I remove their memories of me…_

Memory erasing charms had several advantages over compulsion charms. The main one being that memory erasing charm didn't actually erase memories, it simply copied that natural coping mechanism for incredibly traumatic events and hid them away in the recesses of the mind where they could be retrieved at a later time. Because of this the memory charms were less prone to failing, people couldn't fight to recover memories they didn't even know they had.

Hermione turned in her bed again, the fact that she was covered up to her neck in blankets doing nothing to make her feel warm.

_I can erase their memories of me…_ Hermione couldn't believe she was considering this. _Erase their memories then put a compulsion charm on them to take a long vacation somewhere… It shouldn't be too hard, they were already planning on visiting my uncle in Russia. No don't be stupid!_ She mentally chided herself for forgetting such a basic thing, she couldn't erase their memories of her and then send them to Russia because then her Uncle would start asking questions about her. _I'll have to send them somewhere else… some place where we've got no family that could accidentally find them.._ She groaned in frustration, _No, that won't work either! Even if no one tries to contact them there's no doubt that they won't try contacting anyone else to inform them of their move._

_I'd have to erase their _entire _lives on top of sending them to another country._

She turned around and pulled her covers over her head, feeling as if the darkness could hide her guilt over her plans.

She considered what could go wrong, the main one being the fact that if she did too good of a job on the memory charm she wasn't sure she'd be able to undo the spell. Secondly how would she be able to find them once this entire war was over since she had no way to control where they decided to settle down in? If she added more and more terms to the memory modification the entire thing would collapse in on itself as their new memories would fall apart under scrutiny, their minds rejecting the false memories on their own. The entire situation seemed much more complex than she had initially thought.

_Arthur and Tricia McMillan. Those will be their new names._ She decided to start off on the easy parts before she grit her teeth as a flaw appeared in her plan.

_But all of their identification still reads Dr. Robert Granger and Dr. Jean Granger!_ It'd be _impossible_ for them to sell off their belongings if their made up names didn't match the names of the actual owners. She briefly considered asking for help, maybe sending an owl from the Burrow as soon as she could and send her parents into hiding with the Weasleys or some of the other Order members. _But I'd only be hiding them in houses that are already being targeted. And the more people who know about them the greater the chance her plan will be discovered._

She tried thinking out of the box, a way to solve all these problems at once. She tried drawing from every source of inspiration she knew, namely books. A plan began to form in her mind, one she seemed to rip straight out of an old detective novel she'd once read.

What if she renamed them Arthur and Tricia McMillan, a couple in a witness protection program? _Yes,_ she began to agree with herself, _And their cover story has them called Robert and Jean Granger, dentists, with a daughter in a boarding school... and they had to leave the country while the authorities solved the case that made them go into hiding._ Her plan was ridiculous and she knew it, it reeked of desperation and her prior experience told her that she never made the right decisions when she was desperate.

_What choice do I have?_ She argued with her conscience, _If I don't send them out of here and fast the Death Eaters will arrive and-no, better to send them away. Better that they have no reason to come back to here and no reason to worry._

Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that it didn't sound right. It was nearly 5 in the morning and she was planning on erasing herself from her parents mind and sending them away to live in another country. She bit her lip, feeling terrible.

She turned over and conjured a glass cup before conjuring some cool water and drank it down in an effort to wet her dry mouth before settling back into bed as she hammered out the details of her plan.

Hours later she realized she hadn't gotten any sleep as she woke up to a late shower and fumbled through her dresser to find a pair of clothing that she hadn't already stowed in her beaded bag, the only one she had successfully charmed out of the whole lot.

"Hermione. Tea's ready, darling." Her mother's voice called out as she started to dress.

"Coming, mum!" she called out as she heard her mother's footsteps outside her bedroom door.

She turned and faced her room, realizing that this could be the last time she'd see it in a long time. Or the last time she'd see it at all. She turned around and made sure her parents weren't looking before closing her door as slowly as she could, coming face to face to the small wooden engraving her father had made which read HERMIONE's ROOM. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against it as she remembered the countless times she had complained about the hearts that adorned the engraving. They weren't the type of decoration she enjoyed at all and would have preferred no decoration at all. She let out a dry chuckle when she realized that she'd miss the silly engraving outside her door, hearts and all. She put her palm up to her door and sighed before pressing the tip of her wand against the hard wood of the door and muttered, "Repello Muggletum." With that she gave one final look at her bedroom door before heading towards the dining room when she realized that she had missed breakfast, her parents watching some travel program in the living room, her father turning to her and giving her a friendly smile.

"G'morning dear, food's on the table. Didn't have the heart to wake you since you looked so comfortable."

Hermione simply nodded, her father's demeanor twisting her stomach into a thousand knots and walked as quickly as she could into the dining room where she struggled to keep her food down before deciding that she wasn't terribly hungry. She sat alone in the dining room for a good 14 minutes as she steeled herself to do what was necessary to protect her family, her hands fiddling with her wand and beaded bag.

She stood up and walked over to the living room, her parents softly talking to each other while their program showed different houses from around the world.

"Is this in Australia?" Her father, Robert, asked.

"Looks wonderful, doesn't it?" Jean replied as the narrator went on to describe the luxurious home.

Hermione was thankful they didn't seem to notice her and doubly thankful that she wouldn't have to look them in the eyes when she did this. She raised her hand and…

… she couldn't do it.

She stood there, her entire arm shaking as she was hit with the full force of what she was going to do to them, her parents, who were sitting there as innocently as two children as they held hands and talked about the various houses they saw on the television.

She called up all the justifications she had that told her why she _had_ to do this. Why she _had_ to protect her mother and her father, why she _had_ to send them away. She thought about the dark times that Voldemort would surely visit upon both the wizarding and Muggle world, about the Death Eater's hatred of Muggleborns and Muggles, about the attacks they have been committing on Muggle households, how big a target they had painted on their heads because they were her parents, how defenseless they were against even a poorly trained wizarding child. She thought about Harry in an effort to find the strength she needed to do this.

And in doing so made a wonderful mistake.

_Harry._

What Harry wanted most in life was a family. Every day he walked around and was reminded that he had no family, no Lily, no James, no Sirius, no little or older brother or sister, no grandfather or grandmother. An aunt and uncle and cousin who despised him. She'd often see the look on his face when Ron talked about his family or when she talked about hers, that heartbreaking look on his face when he realized he'd have to head back to the Dursleys every semester's end.

And here she was about to erase her parent's memories and send them away.

Hermione immediately lowered her wand, ashamed and disgusted with herself, lowered her head in shame. She could justify this to herself, she could justify this to her parents if she really needed to, but she'd never be able to justify it to Harry.

She knew that there was no way Harry would _**ever**_ consider what she was planning on doing.

She realized that she _could_ do this. It would be easy to do this.

But she also realized that she _wouldn't_ do this.

She stowed her wand, took a moment to recompose herself and then cleared her throat, her parents turning at the sound.

"Mum, dad, I have something to tell you."

She told them everything, showed them her charmed bag and her supplies, told them what they had to do, the state of the wizarding world and what was sure to come next, Harry's part in all this, her part in all this. She stressed over and over that she'd be careful, that they'd be as careful as they could possibly be. She stressed that she was going to do this and nothing they could say or do would convince her otherwise. She _needed _to be with Harry. She could never live with herself if she walked away now. Her mother listened on and began to cry, her father's face was stony and unreadable as she told them that they had to get out of the country, had to find somewhere to hide and to do it quick. Pleaded that they listen to her.

They sat in silence when it was all over save for her mother's crying, her father hugging her close and gently rubbing her shoulder.

Hermione saw her father's jaw muscles clench and unclench, something on his mind that he couldn't quite articulate. Finally he turned to his wife, "Jean…" he whispered. The effect on her mother was instantaneous, she jumped out of her father's grasp and hugged her. Hermione returned the hug as strongly as she could, her mother's shampoo filling her nose as her tears and sobs reached her ears. She saw her father walk over and envelop the two of them in a group hug. She saw her father cry.

Her father took charge, telling her where they'd go, making up travel plans on the spot. Novosibirsk, Russia, the city where Uncle Tomas and Aunt Lena married in. They agreed on a tell at Hermione's insistence, anyone could show up magically disguised as her so they needed a way to be sure it was her and not an imposter. They agreed that she'd wear her hair in a ponytail, a hairstyle she never used, when she went back to look for them. They both promised they'd stay out of the country until she sent word for them or found them herself and not a moment sooner.

"I love you darling," her mother whispered as she began to rock back and forth in their hug, quiet the entire time Hermione and Robert had made their plans, "I love you soo much."

Her mother reluctantly broke away, her eyes red and puffy from crying so hard. "You promise me you'll be safe."

"I promise mum," Hermione said, her own voice breaking from her emotions. "I'll be back mum, don't you worry."

"It's my job to worry," she replied with a tiny smile on her face. "I told you you've grown up."

Hermione's control broke and she flew back into her mother's embrace, the two of them crying even harder now. She felt a comforting hand fall on her shoulder, her father's, as they continued to cry before she nudged her mother.

"Come dear," he whispered, his voice choked up. "Let's not draw this out. It's hard enough already."

Her mother shook her head while Hermione looked at her father, "I'm sorry dad."

"Don't be," he said once he found his voice. "We're both proud of you. Aren't we dear?" She felt her mother nod against her. "Do you have everything you need darling?" he asked Hermione again. She simply nodded and patted her beaded bag and mouthed "magic" at his questioning look. The three of them, all still barely holding back their tears, made their way to the front door, her mother continuously begging Hermione to stay safe, to watch out and take care of herself while her father simply walked on in silence as he did a better job of keeping himself under control. They all turned to face each other as Hermione took her first step outside, her mother giving her one final quick hug.

"I love you dear, more than you know." Jean declared.

Hermione turned to face her father who gave her another strong hug and a quick kiss against her forehead, "I love you too, more than you know."

"I love you dad, I love you mum," Hermione managed, "I'm sorry about this. I'll come back, I promise."

"Yes you will," Her father said in a strong voice, "And when you come back you'll finally play a _Super Mario_ game with me." Hermione nodded at his silly request, glad he was trying to find some levity in a situation where she saw none.

"And we'll meet our future son in law." Her mother declared as she tried to join in before nudging her husband, who nodded along. "Invite him for dinner sometime?"

Hermione nodded, their relaxed banter working wonders on her mood, "It'll be the first thing we do when we get back." She gave them one final smile before turning around and walking down the street. She felt their gazes on her back throughout the entire walk and found strength in them. They'd be safe, they trusted her and were proud of her. They knew she'd come back.

She turned back at the end of the street, her parents still standing at their doorway, her mother waving to her. Hermione gave one final wave back.

It was better this way.

She reached behind her jumper and found Harry's necklace against her skin, closed her eyes and thought of him.

_What bad luck you have Harry Potter, meeting the girlfriend's parents on the second date._


	18. Vow

**AN: **Thank you to everyone who put this on favorite lists, alert lists or left a review. So, in this story we have this chapter and then an epilogue.

I had the hardest time writing the first sentence to this chapter. I got no clue why. Also, there is an object in this chapter from the _Harry Potter_ universe that I _think_ I may not have fully understood, if that's the case then… well, whatever, it's my fanfiction and that's how it works here. Hopefully I didn't fly completely off the rails in this chapter. Also, _Lord of the Rings_ reference, a pretty obvious one too. Also, I did something that I'm pretty sure I've never read in another _Harry Potter_ fanfic but that I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that someone _has_ done it before. Also, as I upload this on 12/9/12 I realize that I have to spend the next few days on my Othello final essay for my English class. Tuesday I have 2 finals and Thursday night is my speech final. Yay.

Hope you guys/gals like it.

* * *

**Vow**

Hermione lay in her guest bed as she stared up at the ceiling of Ginny's room. She turned in her bed to look at her redheaded friend and confirmed that she was indeed still asleep. Ginny had been acting somewhat awkwardly around her, though Hermione found her behavior to be understandable. In fact she knew it was understandable. She had had time to think about the situation with Ginny and realized that the young girl was acting _exactly_ like she had acted with regards to Ron's relationship with Lavender. With that in mind she had reacted to Ginny less harshly than she did before, something that no doubt went a long way in putting their relationship back on friendly terms. It wasn't all perfect though; Ginny would still cringe or become clearly uncomfortable on the rare occurrences that the topic would stray to Harry, but it was clear that the young girl was trying to become much more amicable to her.

The problem was that everyone else wanted to talk about Harry.

Ron, of course, was eager to see his best mate, happy for him now that he'd be of age and wouldn't have to stay with the "those two whales and that horse-faced lady." And while Hermione noticed a growing maturity in him he'd still show his thoughtlessness when he'd remark "I don't want to see you two snogging all over the house when he gets here" in full earshot of Ginny. He'd also try to defend himself by saying that "Ginny needs to learn that he's with you and that won't change."

Fred and George were worse. They'd continuously make swooning gestures whenever she was in the room and Harry's name was mentioned. They reminisced that it was "only yesterday that they were ickle firsties and now they are snogging in broom closets!" or teasingly asking Hermione if she "was getting any ideas about the upcoming wedding." It was all good natured and even Ginny laughed at their jokes and at the blushes on Hermione's face.

Bill and Charlie, who were less well known to her, congratulated her on her relationship, though obviously Bill was much more focused on his upcoming big day than gossiping whether or not Harry was "as dreamy a romantic as Hermione makes him out to be".

Mister and Missus Weasley had been happy for her, though Hermione got the feeling that Missus Weasley was holding back her enthusiasm for Ginny's sake.

Fleur, unfortunately, had none of that restraint. If she wasn't talking about Bill she was talking to Hermione about Harry. Hermione wasn't sure if she was naturally a person who loved to talk about relationships or if the excitement of her wedding was making her want to join in on everyone's excitement about love, but Fleur seemingly had an endless list of topics she could discuss about relationships or advice she was willing to give Hermione.

Hermione looked over at Fleur's bed, seeing that, like always, she had already left and was presumably having a quiet breakfast conversation with Bill or helping Molly with the decorations.

"She's not so bad," Hermione jumped at Ginny's voice, not realizing the younger girl had woken up, "But I don't understand why mum doesn't let her room with Bill. Or even why she can't stay in Percy's room."

"Well," Hermione began, "I'm sure your mother doesn't want any…" she colored slightly, "She doesn't want any illicit behavior going on."

"Oh _please_," Ginny huffed as she stood up and started her usual stretching routine, "They are going to get married in three days. It's not like they haven't slept together yet and we both know she's snuck into his room a few times."

"Yes well," Hermione sputtered, knowing full well that she was right. "Maybe your mum is old fashioned and wants to believe they are waiting until marriage?"

Ginny simply snorted as she began making her bed, Hermione getting up as she realized there was no use in staying in. "Why not Percy's room then? The berk isn't going to show up, so why save his room?"

Hermione smiled weakly, "Maybe she wants to keep up some hope that he'll show up?" she suggested, Ginny shrugging in response.

"I wish I could go with you tonight," the redhead began after an awkward stretch of silence, "To get Harry from his relatives."

Hermione turned to look at her and gave her a small smile. "Well, you are underage so…" she trialed of and gave her the same excuse her mother had given her.

"Didn't stop you and Ron from going on adventures with him all the other times." Ginny retorted. "It's bullocks," she stated after a moment of silence, "I care about him too, he's my friend."

"Yes he is," Hermione said softly as she waved her wand around, her bed magically cleaning and making itself before her eyes. "But the plan is already dangerous enough as it is and you know how Harry is."

"Yes," Ginny said, as she plopped down on her bed again, "He's too good for his own good. He'd probably feel bad about everyone risking their necks to get him out of there."

"That he would," Hermione said as she sat down across from her.

A moment of silence passed between the two, Hermione biting her lip in thought as she looked over at Ginny, who had taken to absentmindedly flipping through a Quidditch magazine.

"I'm sorry." Two voices said simultaneously.

"Wait," Ginny said with a confused look on her face, "Why are _you_ sorry? For what?"

Hermione blinked, "Well, for my behavior towards you at the Quidditch after-party, the things I said-"

"Were completely right." Ginny interrupted. "You are right, we should all know that by now that you are always right."

"Almost always," Hermione cut in, remembering the drama surrounding Ron and Lavender.

"Well, close enough to always." Ginny continued, "Harry is your boyfriend and as much as that hurts me, being a crybaby won't change that. And acting like a bint won't change that either. And Dean didn't deserve me throwing myself at Harry either, just like you didn't." Ginny paused, her Quidditch magazine crumpled in her hands. "So I'm sorry."

Hermione beamed at her. "That's fine Ginny. I understand what you're going through, I know what it's like."

"Great." Ginny said as she began to attempt straighten out her magazine before Hermione hit it with a spell that made it as good as new. Ginny looked up and gave her a sly smile. "Of course… if things don't work out between you two…" Her words died in her throat as Hermione hit the magazine with another spell that crumpled the entire thing up again.

Hermione huffed as she stood up and walked out of the room, though a smile broke out on her face as she heard Ginny's laughter and promises that she had just been teasing her.

_It looks like we'll be fine._ She thought happily, glad that her first female friendship was back on the mend.

It was about an hour later that Hermione found herself alongside Ginny as they put up decorations along the tent that had been set up in the Burrow's expansive yard while they talked about the upcoming wedding when Ginny turned around, something in the distance catching her eye.

"Huh," Ginny said, "Looks like we've got visitors coming by broom."

Hermione squinted at the two rapidly approaching figures in the distance. "I can't even make out what you are looking at."

"I play Seeker Hermione, I have to have good eyesight. And those are two people coming by broom."

Hermione simply nodded at the explanation, "By broom though? Why not use Floo, Portkey or Apparition?"

"Who knows?" Ginny began, "Some people like traveling by broom when they are just going somewhere for fun just to enjoy the scenery. I wonder who they are." Ginny turned over and bellowed, "Ron! Ron!"

"What?" Came the distant reply.

"Come over here!" Ginny huffed, "He didn't think we'd have a yelling talk over the entire yard did he?" Hermione simply rolled her eyes, knowing that Ron probably _did_ think it was acceptable to have an entire conversation through yelling. "Ron," Ginny began as Ron made his way over to them, "Did you invite anyone over?" she said, pointing off at the two dots as they approached the Burrow.

"No, I-oh, I invited Lavender to the wedding." Ron said in an embarrassed tone.

Hermione turned to raise an eyebrow at him, "Really?" she asked, "Lavender didn't mention this to me in any of her letters." She continued to stare at Ron, who turned pink under her gaze.

"Well, she hasn't responded yet." He admitted.

"Oh great, now I have you and Lavender's tongue wrestling to look forward to. But did you invite anyone over today? Those people?" Ginny said, drawing Hermione's attention back to the mystery people.

Hermione put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, immediately rejecting the idea that this could be a Death Eater attack. _They'd have no element of surprise and we'd be able to set up wards if they attacked by broom…_ She idly wondered if they were any of the guests for Bill and Fleur's wedding, though if they were they were showing up unexpectedly and by rather odd means to come all the way from France.

"I wonder if it might be Professor Lupin and To-" Hermione stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly saw a third shape, much smaller than the two broom riders, fly in formation. Hermione's eyesight wasn't was good as Ginny's or Ron's but she knew the shape of a bird when she saw it.

Especially this bird.

"It's Harry!" Hermione beamed as she ran out into the field and started waving and calling towards the two riders, Ron and Ginny running beside her. Hermione's suspicions were confirmed when one of the riders suddenly pulled into a dive that sent him barreling straight at her and soon the familiar green eyed messy haired face of her boyfriend came into view. Hermione was suddenly swept off her feet as Harry pulled up out of his dive, one arm wrapping around her waist as he leveled out and pulled her into his lap, the ground zipping by beneath them for a few feet before Hermione realized they had stopped moving. Hermione looked up at Harry's face, a giant smile greeting her before she came to her senses and enveloped him in a crushing embrace and planting a long, firm kiss on his lips.

"And it begins," they heard Ron mumble as he reached them, Hermione disentangling herself for Ginny's sake. "Hey mate!" Ron greeted with more enthusiasm as he moved to give Harry what he probably thought was a manly one armed hug.

"Hey Harry." Ginny said shyly. Hermione caught Harry giving her a glance and gave a slight nod.

"Hey Ginny," Harry said as he hugged the petite redhead in a somewhat awkward manner, his face showing great surprise when Ginny started giving him a firm squeeze. As Hermione saw Ginny trying to repair her friendship with Harry by hugging out any past grievances Ron leaned in a bit.

"Erm, what?" he whispered, obviously confused.

"It's fine." Hermione said in a whisper before turning to the other broom rider, Mad Eye Moody. "Hello Profe-"

"I'm not yer Professor Granger," he said in his usual gruff voice, "And you are all dun here why don't we head inside?" he said as his fake eye swiveled around. The group made its way inside, surprising everyone on the way. Harry received a another crushing hug from Missus Weasley along with a hug from Fleur that left him shockingly unflustered while Mad Eye immediately asked Mister Weasley if he could borrow the family owl to send of a post.

"And here I was," one of the twins began, "thinking we'd get to play Make Believe and walk in your shoes." Another twin finished. While the twins looked disappointed that the Polyjuice Potion plan seemed to be a bust Fleur let out a grateful sigh. Hermione caught Fleur's gaze for a moment, the pretty French girl giving her an apologetic smile. Hermione gave her an understanding nod, it would have been rather odd to Polyjuice into a boy, especially a boy she was in love with.

"Yeah mate," Ron said as the entire family took a seat at the dining room table. "What happened to that plan we had?"

"How did You-Know-Who just let you fly out of your relatives?" Mister Weasley asked, his face shining with curiosity. "Especially since flying out in broad daylight is pretty dangerous for you."

Missus Weasley had taken to the kitchen again, her voice ringing out with worry, "Yes dear," she called out, "Tell us while I whip up some breakfast for you… I'm sure I have something here…" she trailed off as the group heard her clamoring around the kitchen.

"Or you can score "cool and mysterious" points with Hermione here and keep mum about the entire thing." One of the twins teased before Ginny sent him a glare.

"Well," Harry began as Hermione pulled up a chair and sat next to him, taking his hand in the process. "It's a bit of a long story but… _I mark the hours, every one, nor have I-_"

"_Yet outrun the Sun!" _Hermione finished with an excited squeal, her love giving her a great smile in return.

"Uh, hello," Ron said, "Now is not the time for poems!"

"It's not a poem Ron," Hermione huffed, "It was the inscription on my Time-Turner, the one I had in third year!" She turned and looked at Harry as she beamed with pride as several gears clicked in her head, "Harry's obviously got his hands on a Time-Turner and used it to sneak out of the Dursleys' at night, arriving here in the morning. Am I right?" Harry nodded.

"That's pretty ingenious," Mister Weasley commented

"Someone explain this to Ron before he strains himself," Charlie said as he patted his younger brother on the shoulder.

Hermione, along with everyone else in the room, turned to look at Harry. "Well Ron, I went out and found some Time-Turners," He gave Hermione a look to preempt her interruption, "Ok fine, I didn't find them, I bought them." He smiled at her as she was about to ask another question which he once again preempted, "And yes, some Time-Turners did survive the fight at the Ministry. Found out that not all of them were at the Ministry, some of them are privately owned."

"Privately owned," snorted Charlie, "Sounds a bit dodgy, but I've got no problem with dodgy if it helps bring down You-Know-Who. But from what Ronnie tells me you were with some family of yours weren't you? And you don't look like the sort to go out and broken business deals for valuable items. No offense."

"No worries," Harry replied easily, "And you are right, I didn't go out and buy them myself, Tonks did."

"Of course, she can look like anyone she wants to and pose as any eccentric witch or wizard that is interested in lost Time-Turners."

Harry nodded, "Right, so she and Professor Lupin got their hands on a couple and snuck them to me at the Dursleys and… what time is it?"

"Morning time." Ron replied immediately as Ginny gave him a soft smack on the head.

"It' about 11:30 AM," Hermione supplied after casting a quick Clock Charm.

"Right," Harry said before a look of concentration appeared on his face, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Aww look," One of the twins pined, "He looks like Hermione when she's thinking! Those two are made for each other."

Hermione noticed that Harry didn't say anything to dissuade the twin of his notion and simply continued on, "Yes well, right now I'm at the Dursleys just sitting in an empty house. Tonight Moody is going to arrive and demand to know why he received a letter in his own writing demanding that he show up alone."

"That I will," Mad Eye said as he stormed into the dining room, startling a few of the occupants in the process. "Makes sense now, given that I just wrote that letter and sent it off to my house. Thank you for letting me use the owl."

"It's no problem," Mister Weasley replied.

"Go on," Hermione urged as everyone's attention went back to Harry.

"So, I explain to Moody that instead of using some silly plan that puts a lot of people in danger we'd do this instead. We'd simply get on our brooms, fly off and outrun the Death Eaters for a few blocks then use a Time-Turner to jump back in time to early morning."

"In doing so you'd appear over an area the Death Eaters weren't patrolling at a time of day they weren't expecting you. They'd still be at Privet Drive watching you." Hermione finished.

"Yup." Harry said, "I got the idea to use a Time-Turner from you Hermione." He gave her a brief smile before leaning in and giving her a few kisses before leaning in and whispering in her ear, "I'm trying to be smarter for you."

Any further discussion was broken when Missus Weasley came bustling back into the dining room with several plates of food that she piled on in front of Harry, who proceeded to tuck in. While he ate and made idle chatter with Hermione, Ron and Ginny the rest of the Weasley family excused themselves and went back to whatever preparations they had been working on before the arrival of the two guests, Moody excusing himself and saying he was heading off to Diagon Alley to pass the time, "don't wanna run into myself back home do I?" he explained as he left. Soon it was just Hermione, Harry and Ron as Ginny left to help her mother with something in the yard. As soon as they realized that they were alone they moved on to other topics.

"Harry," Hermione said after making sure there weren't any eavesdroppers nearby, "When do we leave?"

"After the wedding," he answered immediately, surprising Hermione with the decisiveness in his voice. "We don't want to ruin Bill and Fleur's big day by disappearing so suddenly. Ron, have you talked to your parents?"

"What? Are you mental?" Ron asked with a harsh whisper, somehow remembering to keep his voice down. "They'd never let me go, but I've got a plan, I'm going to transfigure the attic ghoul to-"

"Ron that's a terrible plan," Harry interrupted as Hermione silently agreed. She would have said the same thing but realized she wasn't one to throw stones after her plans to Obliviate her parents. "We can't tell them what we are up to but at least don't lie to them."

"Well but-"

"But nothing Ron," Hermione began, "You are an adult now and this is our first adult decision. Do you really want your adulthood to start on a lie because you don't want your mother to find something out?"

"And just running away without telling anyone is better?" Ron asked with startling clarity.

"We aren't running away Ron," Hermione said before quieting down as Fred or George walked through the room while muttering something about flowers, "We aren't running away. Everyone knows Harry has to do _something_ about Voldemort-"

"And everyone knows we wouldn't let Harry go off on his own." Ron finished as he looked down at his hands with a contemplative face. "I just don't want them to worry." He added in a small voice.

Hermione turned to Harry and realized that he carried only a single rucksack with him. "Harry, is that all you brought?"

Harry brought up a small dark grey rucksack and placed it on the table. "Yeah but I tried to put some expansion charm inside it but… well I couldn't really get them to work as well as I'd wanted. It's only got about double the space it would normally have."

"This is great!" Hermione beamed, happy that Harry seemed to have put more thought into this than she would have given him credit for. "What's inside?"

"Just some food, change of clothes and some basic potions kits that I thought we might need. Oh, and another Time-Turner and money."

"When did you get any of this? You couldn't have gotten them after Hogwarts closed early." She left her question hanging as she looked expectantly at him.

"Remember when I would receive letters from Remus? The morning of the Apparition test he owled me," he added to further jog her memory. "That's when. Mind, I didn't really have any clue that this would all be happening like it is, but I had the vague idea that I'd have to go out on more outings to find Horcruxes so I didn't have the time to get as many things as I wanted. Most of my funds for this went into getting the two Time-Turners."

"Where'd you get the money from?" Hermione asked.

"His school funds obviously," Ron said, "Am I right mate?" Harry nodded. "See? No use to let all that gold sit there."

"He's right," Harry answered, Ron sitting up a bit straighter at the compliment, "I emptied out my school vault and brought it along too, converted some of it into pounds in case we need to hide out in Muggle areas."

"Harry this is great, the money and the two Time-Turners will be a great help in all of this!" she gave him a large smile before giving him a quick kiss. "I enchanted a bag with similar charms-"

"No doubt much better than mine." Harry complimented.

"-but only brought along basic supplies too. We can use the Time-Turners like you did to get out of spots of trouble and generally give us twice the time that anyone else has! Not to mention the money will make this much easier." She gave him an adoring look, pleased that he had put in the effort to do his best to make their mission a successful one. She moved closer to him, almost sharing his seat, and starting kissing him thoroughly, ignoring Ron as he made some teasing quip and left the room. She continued to kiss him for the next minute or so before she pulled back and grinned as she caught sight of his mussed appearance before helping him straighten out his clothes before tidying up her own appearance. "I missed you." she stated before giving him one final quick kiss.

"I've missed you too," he whispered back as he hugged her, Hermione giggling slightly as he went in to kiss her along her neck. "Enough of that you," she said with a playful smack to his arm, "I'd better go back out and see what Ginny is up to, she's calmed down by the way, and see if she needs any help or if Missus Weasley has anything that needs doing. You'd better get used to a hectic pace around here my captain, Missus Weasley's turned into a task master ever since the preparations have started. Honestly I think she knows that we plan to leave and is doing her best to stop it, she's been keeping me and Ron apart the entire time in an attempt to keep us from plotting. I'm surprised she hasn't come in here…"

"Bit understandable isn't it?" Harry asked as he began playing with her hair, "You know how she is. She's worried about Ron. Us too."

"I do understand, my mum was in tears as I left." She saw Harry look up at her with a questioning gaze. "Yes, I told my parents." She slowly slid into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder before giving him a soft butterfly kiss on his neck. "They didn't like it, and I'm sure they'll worry to near death, but they know. Although, they did say they'd like to meet you over for dinner sometime." She began to laugh when she felt him tense up, a quick "what" escaping his lips as he was told this. She looked down at his hand and started playing with his ring, its silver body glinting in the light as the magically engraved Snitch flew in circles. "I'm surprised you are still wearing this." She said, smiling.

"Of course." Harry easily responded, his voice making soft reverberations across his chest that Hermione loved, "Are you still wearing the necklace I got you?"

"Of course," Hermione mimicked, "I love it."

"And I love this ring, I'm not taking it off."

Hermione sighed against his chest, idly enjoying his presence after a few weeks of absence before Missus Weasley bustled into the room, startling the two of them, and asking if they needed a bit more alone time or if they were ready to help. The rest of the day went on in an easy mood for Hermione, no longer nervous about rescuing Harry from the Dursleys and the danger that would entail, occasionally chatting with her boyfriend when there were lulls in their workload and trying to get Ron to accept the fact that Harry was from the future, that technically Harry and her were both from a few hours in the future and were slightly older than they should naturally be. Harry mentioned that he'd received a few owls from Hermione's friends, Hermione mentioned that Ron had asked Lavender to be his date at the wedding and joined in as Harry started teasing him. The entire atmosphere of the Burrow, which Hermione usually felt was busy and close and loving, seemed to be magnified and even with Missus Weasley continuously asking them to run and help here or put streamers up there or make sure the yard is free of garden gnomes, Hermione was immensely thankful for this break in all the gloom that had recently fallen on her life and understood why Harry had decided to leave only after the wedding. For the rest of the day she put off the Horcrux hunt from her mind and instead simply enjoyed her time as a girl who was going to attend a wedding with the love of her life and not a woman who was about to head out and seek horrifyingly evil items that kept a madman's unnatural heart beating.

It was in this way that the next few days flew by.

The rest of the Delacours arrived two days before the wedding, "To get to meet the Weasleys," Hermione explained to Harry and Ron. Though they made the Burrow all the more crowded Hermione was greatly amused when Gabrielle, now 11 years old, batted her eyelashes at Harry upon first arriving. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing whenever Harry would walk into the room and little Gabrielle would follow him around like a lovesick puppy or laugh at the look of horror Harry would display when Gabrielle would corner him in a room or start hugging him.

The only break in the good mood was on Harry's birthday when the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrmigeour, arrived and reminded the three of them of Dumbledore's passing in a rather unpleasant way. Hermione, who was initially touched and crying that Dumbledore had willed her a book, turned to anger at the Minister's snide accusations and remarks and was only saved from giving the Minister a piece of her mind when Mister and Missus Weasley provided an interruption that diffused the situation, at least as far as Harry and the Minister were concerned, and the visit was over. It was hours later that the Burrow was winding down as everyone went to sleep in preparation for the wedding tomorrow that Hermione found Harry down in the living room.

"Hello my captain," she said sweetly as she sat down and made herself comfortable between his legs, "Looking forward to the wedding tomorrow?" she asked idly.

"Are you going to dress up?" Harry against her hair before Hermione felt him inhale deeply. "I like this shampoo you use."

"My mum bought it for me recently," Hermione replied, finding the sensation of Harry breathing her in to be amazingly pleasant, "And yes, I am going to be wearing a dress tomorrow. What else would I be wearing you beast, slacks and a jumper?"

"Mmmh, would you have bed hair?" Harry asked from behind her, "Because I sort of fancy your hair when it gets all bushy."

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I also love looking at you when you dress up."

"Oh really?" Hermione asked, "If I recall I've only 'dressed up' as you put it twice in the time we've known each other. During the Yule Ball and during Professor Slughorn's party. And, if I also recall correctly Mister Potter, you weren't exactly giving me puppy eyes at either event." She turned to give him a mock glare, their faces inches apart. "So when exactly did you ever get a chance to admire me in a fancy dress?" She then decided to tease him. "Or are you fantasizing about me?"

Harry's face immediately flushed red though to his credit, and Hermione's surprised, he teased right back.

"I doubt I'm the only one in this relationship who fantasizes." He said in a surprisingly steady voice as he stared straight at Hermione, who now also sported an equally flushed face.

"You've got a big head Mister Potter," she chided, feeling her body temperature skyrocket in his embrace and under his gaze. She looked into his eyes and realized that he was debating something within his head before she saw a look of determination edge its way into his gaze. To her horror he simply smirked and leaned in, his lips against her ear.

"Right you are Miss Granger, I do have a big he-"

"'arry!"

Hermione had never moved so fast in her life, one second she was in Harry's lap getting quite pleasantly bothered and the next she was standing a good meter away from the couch as she straighten her clothing and discreetly cast a Cooling Charm on herself as Harry, who had never looked more mortified in his life, was berated by several requests in French and English by Gabrielle to give her a goodnight kiss. Fleur put an end to the torture as she came in and called Gabrielle away, finally prying Gabrielle off of Harry when she said something in French that Hermione didn't quite catch. The two blonde French ladies walked off and soon it was just her and Harry, who had his eyes closed and was muttering something under his breath. Hermione walked over and hugged him as she started laughing into his chest.

"It's not-"

"Oh it is funny!" Hermione squealed, "I'll have to use a Pensieve and show you the look on your face!"

She continued to laugh at their situation, realizing that laughter was infinitely preferable to feeling the awkwardness she could be feeling. Harry seemed to realized this too and soon the two of them were laughing in their embrace. "Walk me up to Ginny's room?" Hermione asked sweetly. Harry nodded and they walked up the stairs, still occasionally laughing at their earlier moment before stopping outside Ginny's door.

"We'll continue that conversation someday my captain," Hermione said as she reached up and gave him a sweet kiss.

"Oh, we will?" Harry asked between their usual slew of kisses.

"You can count on it my captain," she whispered, "Just keep being the great boyfriend that you are and I'm sure we'll continue tha-"

"Oh!" came Fleur's gasp behind them, the French girl looking at the two of them before muttering "Sorry" and closing the door to Ginny's room again.

Harry sighed, "I once heard a term for what this is," he muttered, "From Dean or Seamus, I think they said it was-"

"'arry!" The door to Ginny's room opened again, Gabrielle standing there with big eyes, "You came to kiss me goodnight!"

The next day was the wedding, the day they'd leave and search for the Horcruxes.

There had been no time for breakfast, Ron nearly cried at that, as the work started immediately when they woke up. A quick shower and change into their dresses and Hermione soon found herself alongside Ginny, Gabrielle and Missus Delacour as they worked with Fleur to help her prepare for her big day. The three Delacour girls chirped away in rapid-fire French, their faces beaming, Missus Delacour often hugging her daughter and letting out several happy streams of tears and Gabrielle playing with a nearby bouquet of flowers as she pretended she was marrying Harry. Hermione caught Ginny rolling her eyes more than once but always gave her a quick nudge to cut it out, "None of that Ginny," she whispered, "I'm sure you'll act the same when you get married." Ginny simply rolled her eyes again and grinned, pointing across the room. Hermione looked around and saw Gabrielle as she skipped and danced about the room, still holding on to the bouquet and threw a nearby napkin over her head as a pretend veil as she sighed dramatically "Oh 'arry, I do!" over and over.

"You've got to watch out in a few years," Ginny whispered, "In 4 years she'll be 15 you know…"

Hermione huffed, "Yes, I'll be quite sure to keep Harry on a tight leash, lest a girl 6 years younger than him catches his eye. Don't be ridiculous."

"You know how men are," Ginny whispered back before Gabrielle bounded over to them.

"'ere 'ermony," she said in her not-quite-right-English as she handed her the bouquet and napkin, "Is very fun." and walked back to her mother and sister, who were putting the finishing touches on Fleur's dress. Hermione just gave the young girl a smile before setting down the bouquet and folding up the napkin.

"Oh go on," Ginny said, "No one is looking, and I know you wanna."

Hermione tensed, "I have no clue what you are talking about."

Ginny simply laughed, "Of course, what was I thinking?" she asked before making a grand show of walking over to one of the flower decorations and working intently on it, going so far as to almost bury her face in the flowers. Hermione then turned and looked over at the Delacour family, who was still caught up in their own world. She surreptitiously looked around and found a spare mirror on a desk and silently walked over to it, the bouquet and napkin in hand. She threw one last glance to the room and made sure no one was paying her any attention before she threw the napkin over her head and arranged it into the best pretend veil it could possibly be before holding up the bouquet in front of her. In her mind she pictured Harry, that silly grin on his face that made her heart melt, his wonderful eyes looking at her expectantly.

"I do." She whispered.

Gabrielle was right, it was fun.

"I do." She said again, "Hello," she went on, "I am Missus Hermione Jean Potter. Hello, I am Missus Potter, how are you?" She smiled and mouthed 'I do' a few more times, each time falling deeper and deeper into her daydream.

"Oh, is this the Muggleborn?" Hermione suddenly whipped around with a small 'eep' escaping her lips as she saw an elderly witch with a beaky nose, red rimmed and a terrible pink hat. The elderly witch gave her a look up and down, her judging gaze setting Hermione on edge. The elderly witch harrumphed before declaring "Bad posture and skinny ankles. You'll never get married yourself if you don't fix that dearie," she said in a voice that grated on Hermione's nerves. "Do the Muggles wear napkins as hats now? What silly fashion customs they have,"

"Yes, excuse me." Hermione said through her teeth, eager to get out of the woman's presence, giving one last look to Ginny before leaving the room and making her way over to the yard where the guests were being seated. She looked around and saw Harry talking to Ron made her way over to them.

"You look beautiful." Harry beamed she arrived before taking her hand and giving her a kiss.

"Ron's great aunt Muriel doesn't seem to agree with you," she said before straightening out his tie and adjusting his coat, "I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur her tiara. Harry, you don't think I have a bad posture and skinny ankles do you?" she asked, feeling slightly foolish that the old witch's words affect her. Harry took a step and ran a hand up her back while looking her up and down.

"I think your posture is great," he whispered as his hand rested on the small of her back, "And I don't think your ankles are skinny."

Hermione shivered before throwing her arms around him and giving him a kiss. "What's gotten into you my captain?" she whispered, "You've been very forward lately." Harry blushed and was about to respond when a voice spoke out behind them.

"Has anyvone seen Hermyeone?"

Hermione turned and noticed that Viktor Krum had arrived. He looked much the same as he had during the Triwizard Tournament except he was a few inches taller, sported a beard and his nose, which was curved before, sported a rather nasty bump from what Hermione guessed must have been a broken nose in a Quidditch accident.

"Viktor," Hermione said in a pleasant surprise, "I didn't know you were coming here."

"Yeah," Ron added from behind them as took Viktor's invitation and looked it over several times, "how come you're here?"

"Fleur invited me," replied Krum, his eyebrows raised as he look at Hermione. "You look vunderful." He said before his eyes flicked over towards Harry.

"You remember Harry?" Hermione asked, silently hoping that Harry wasn't the jealous berk that Ron had been.

"Hello Krum," her captain replied easily, "It's nice to see you again. How are you?"

"I am vine Harry," he replied, "Are you-?"

"Time to sit down," Fred or George interrupted, "it's about to start and we don't want to get run over by the bride."

Before anything else could happen, though Hermione wasn't sure what that "anything" else was, the group of them bustled off to find their arranged seats, the twins sitting near the front while she and Ron took chairs on either side of Harry. There were excited murmurs that started filling the tent as the family members started to prepare for the wedding. Hermione looked around, several of Fleur's cousins, or girls she assumed were cousins, were chatting excitedly and occasionally giving a short squeal of laughter as the twins gave them flirty looks. Mister and Missus Weasley strolled up the aisle, both of them looking more proud than she'd ever seen them, both of them looking so happy that they appeared 10 years younger. Hermione then saw Bill and Charlie stand up and take their positions by the minister who was presiding over the wedding, the same one who had presided at Dumbledore's funeral. Hermione gave them all a smile as Bill looked over at his side of the family and mouthed a "thank you" to them, the twins giving them wolf whistles, Mister Weasley giving a short round of applause while Missus Weasley began to cry "My baby is getting married…"

Suddenly the music swelled, the crowd fell silent and simultaneously every head in the tent turned to face the entrance where a beaming Fleur stood by an equally joyous Mister Delacour.

"Oooh!" Hermione gasped as she admired just how wonderfully happy Fleur look, a few chuckles breaking out around the tent as it soon became obvious that Fleur was being held back by her father so that she wouldn't simply run up to Bill. When she reached the front of the tent and held hands with Bill Hermione felt her heart melt.

They looked absolutely wonderful together.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister said in a surprisingly singing voice, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls…"

Hermione thought that it must have taken all their willpower to actually listen to the minister as he began the ceremony instead of simply falling into their own world. Even from her seat she could see Bill's gaze slowly roam across Fleur's face, she could see Fleur slowly move closer and closer to her soon-to-be husband, her eyes shining and somehow her entire body glowing.

Hermione hadn't initially liked Fleur, nor was she particularly close to Bill, but right now she couldn't help but feel incredibly happy for them. The look they were giving each other was wonderful, the same type of look she'd seen on Mister and Missus Weasley's faces when they thought no one was looking, the same look she'd seen on her mother and father's faces when they danced together on their anniversaries…

She felt her eyes well up and felt Harry's hand give hers a squeeze.

"Do you, William Arthur Weasley, take Fleur Isabelle Delacour…?"

She turned at looked at Harry, the tears that had gathered around her eyes giving her a view of the world that was slightly blurry and beautiful, the glow of the golden floating lanterns further adding to the vision.

That look that Bill and Fleur were giving each other was now on Harry's face.

She beamed at him, smiling through her tears and feeling quite silly at being the typical crying girl at a wedding, her heart and breathing stopping when she saw him open his lips.

"I do."

Hermione remembered to breathe when he gave her a shy smile, his eyes hopefully searching her face for a response. She caught on immediately and squeezed his hand in return.

"Do you, Fleur Isabelle Delacour, take William Arthur Weasley...?"

Hermione's heart was pounding in her chest. Even though she knew they were just being silly as this wasn't their wedding after all and they weren't the ones being addressed she knew this moment had to be perfect.

"I do." She answered alongside Fleur, Hermione suddenly feeling as if something amazing had just occurred between her and Harry.

"…then I declare you bonded for life. You may now kiss the bride." the minister finished.

Hermione slowly leaned over and kissed Harry, their lips meeting in the greatest kiss she'd ever had in her life, their hands and fingers still entwined together, her heart doing summersaults in her chest. They slowly broke their kiss, Hermione saying the first words that came to her mind, "I love you," before they stood up and started clapping for Bill and Fleur, their eyes never drifting off of each other.

She found herself walking hand in hand with Harry as they made their way over to the tables that had magically appeared as the wedding began to turn into its own wedding reception, lively music beginning to flow out of the golden lanterns and several guests rushed up to congratulate the new husband and wife. They found a table with Luna, who caught the look on Hermione and Harry's faces and gave them a happy smile before standing up and hugging them.

"Oh hello, Harry, hello Hermione," she said in her usual voice which Hermione currently found wonderful. "You two look brilliant."

"Thanks Luna," Harry responded, "You look nice." Luna smiled at him, "Do you mind if we sit with you?" he asked.

"Oh yes," she said happily, "Or do I mean oh no? We can sit together; Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our wedding present. I'll get to introduce my friends to him." She said, her eyes slightly watering when she mentioned the word "friends."

"Of course," Hermione replied, "We'd be happy to meet your dad." Hermione replied, Luna nodding vigorously before looking down and muttering that a Waterbee had just wandered into her eyes.

They chatted happily for a while; Hermione leaned against Harry and held his hand under the table, Luna giving the two of them sly and knowing looks and smiles while Ron endlessly praised the food. Interrupted only when a very red-faced Gabrielle came and tapped on Harry's shoulder.

"'arrywoudlyoudancewithme?" she quickly muttered out.

Again Hermione had to stifle a laugh at the look of terror on Harry's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry Gabri-"

"What he means," Hermione interrupted, "Is that he'd love to."

Gabrielle trilled in joy before grabbing Harry's hand and leading him to the dance floor, several of the guests pointing at the two as they began dancing and aww-ing at Gabrielle's lovesick face as she looked up at Harry.

"That was nice of you," Luna said as she started swaying to the music in her seat.

"You can go and dance with him too Luna," Hermione said as she looked at the two, Gabrielle stepping all over Harry's feet as she led him in their dance. "Just give Gabrielle a while with her hero."

"Ok," Luna said, "Oh hello. Who are you?" she asked as Viktor sat down and took Harry's seat.

"I am Viktor Krum," he said before turning to Hermione, "Vould you like to dance?"

Hermione threw a glance over to Luna who looked as innocently dreamy as always and Ron, who was vigorously shaking his head, clearly offended for Harry that someone was asking her to a dance. "Yes Viktor, that'd be fine."

She stood up and walked to the dancing area as a few witches started gossiping about the "famous Quidditch star" and throwing her envious looks. Harry caught sight of them, but after looking into Hermione's eyes for a second he gave her an understanding smile.

Hermione made sure to stay a respectable distance from Viktor as they started dancing.

"How haff you been Hermyeone?" he asked pleasantly while following her gaze.

"I've been wonderful Viktor, and you?" Hermione asked pleasantly.

"It has been the same," he said, "I see you are together with Harry now."

"Yes," Hermione smiled, "We've been together a while now, though honestly it feels like we've been together for years."

Viktor simply gave a grunt, "If I vas him I wouldn't be dancing with anoffer woman." He said, pointing over to Harry who was now dancing with Luna. Or at least attempting to dance with her, given that Luna was doing some rather unconventional moves.

"That's Luna," Hermione answered, "They used to fancy each other, now she's a good friend to the both of us," Hermione went on as she danced with Viktor, "But I have no reason to be jealous, just like Harry has no reason to be jealous that I'm dancing with you."

The conversation turned awkward after that, Viktor attempting to shift the conversation towards Mister Lovegood and the necklace he wore. Hermione didn't feel any sort of friendship to Mister Lovegood, but felt she had to defend him as Luna's father and also because something in Viktor's demeanor simply irked her today. Thankfully Ron came to her rescue, asking to cut into the dance before it turned into a total disaster.

"Thanks Ron," Hermione said after Viktor was a safe distance away.

"Sure," he replied as he fumbled through their dance, "Even I could tell that wasn't going so great by the looks on your faces." Hermione simply nodded in agreement as she danced with one of her longtime friends, this dance much more easy going than the last even if less conversation had passed between her and Ron. All throughout the dance she kept stealing glances at Harry, her heart fluttering every time she caught sight of him, the fact that Luna had given him a kiss on his cheek and gave him a long hug did nothing to ruin her mood, like she'd told Viktor she had no reason to be jealous.. She trusted him completely and after their moment during the wedding she knew that he was completely hers and that she was completely his.

"So, uh, I saw that little moment between you and Harry a while ago," Ron mentioned after clearing his throat. "I guess I hear wedding bells in the future?" he teased, causing Hermione to get glassy eyed as she remembered their moment, her face heating up as she realized that they probably had been seen by a few people. "That's brilliant," he said with genuine happiness. "My two best friends are gonna get married eh?" he chuckled. Hermione looked over at Harry, who was now dancing with Ginny, the redhead having a whispered conversation with him.

"So, what happened with Lavender?" Hermione asked, Ron going beet red at her name.

"Oh, she turned down my offer. Got her owl earlier today. Said she didn't want to give me the wrong idea. S'fine though," he said, "Oh! She also said she said hi to you, and that Padma and Parvati also say hello. They are all staying over at Lavender's I guess."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, Ron looking at her in surprise.

"Eh, don't be," he said, "I was a prat so…" he shrugged his shoulders, that thought having not been fully formed in his head.

"Well, maybe you'll do better next time you fancy a girl?" Hermione said encouragingly.

"Heh," Ron laughed again, "Maybe. Well, here comes my best mate and your boyfriend, so lemme go, I think I'm done stepping on your toes. Hey Harry, I was just making sure Krum wasn't sniffing around her. Hey what?" Ron said as Hermione gave him a smack on the head.

"Thank you for that wonderful gesture Ron, if only you hadn't ruined it with your course language." She said before giving him a playful smile.

"So my lady," Harry said as he held out his hand, "Would you care to dance?"

Hermione slipped her hand into his, "I'd love to dance my captain."

Hermione felt as if the two of them simply floated into the dance floor, the two of them doing a small waltz like dance, neither of them fumbling through the dance thanks to their dancing lessons for the Yule Ball. Hermione rested her head against Harry's chest, his heart's lazy beating making her feel incredibly calm. She felt him kiss the top of her head, felt his hand trial up and down her back and rest on her hip, his hand's resting position sending shots of fire through her body. "Were you uncomfortable yesterday?" Harry asked, "Um, before Gabrielle interrupted us?"

"Mmmh, when might have that been?" Hermione grinned against his chest, feeling him squirm.

"You know when." Harry muttered.

"Oh, you mean when you were making sexual innuendo?" Hermione went on, enjoying the way his body temperature rose and how she was able to hear his heartbeat speed up. "No, no I wasn't uncomfortable, why?"

"Oh, that's good." He said before taking a while to continue with his thoughts. "I just, well…" he began to get nervous, "After… the hospital wing," he said in a whisper, as if anyone would know what particular incident he was referring to, "I didn't want you to think… you know,"

Hermione looked up and gave him a scrutinizing look, "You didn't want me to think what?" she asked, barely hiding her smile.

"That…" Harry looked around before leaning in, his mouth next to Hermione's ear, "That I didn't want to. Because I do want to, just not under those circumstances." He whispered before Hermione tightened her embrace with him, kissing his cheek over and over.

"I want that too," she whispered, "We'll get it right next time."

"Next time?" she could hear the giant grin in his voice.

"Of course."

Several songs went by as she danced with Harry, enjoying everything about him, remembering all their great times together and daydreaming about all the great times they would have in the future. She looked up at him again and gave him a long, deep kiss.

"Harry, what was that a while ago? During the wedding."

"That," he responded as he looked straight at her, his entire body singing in happiness, "was something that felt wonderfully right."

"This is silly," Hermione said, "I feel like I'm going to cry. You are terrible cheesy Mister Potter, and I love it." She kept her eyes locked on his, a wonderful feeling welling up within her as she danced with him in the middle of a wedding reception, the glow from all the nearby lanterns bathing the entire tent in a happy golden glow, one that reminded her of the Gryffindor common room and her moments with Harry on the couch by the fire. "When you said "I do" did you mean it?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"That's why I said it," Harry replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world, Hermione breaking out in a happy sob at his words and the sincerity in which he said them.

"That's brilliant!" she squealed as she hugged him before cupping his face and pulling him down to give him a passionate kiss. "I meant it too." She buried her face against his chest, grinning madly and giving small squeals of delight, clutching at him as tightly as she could. "From now on I'm Missus Hermione Potter," she beamed, Harry nodding against her and chuckling, his own eyes somewhat teary. "I'm Missus Hermione Potter."

"Hey, aren't you two tired?" she turned at Ron's voice, the boy walking up to them as he held a plate that held a large slice of cake, "Don't you want some cake?" he asked between bites.

Hermione rewarded his interruption by going over and hugging him as she continued to squeal in delight, Ron barely managing to hold up his cake before she smashed into it.

"I'm Missus Potter!" Hermione said in a deliriously happy mood, the smile on her face failing to convey just how happy she was feeling. Ron simply looked at her with his "you are mental" look, though he was spared the chance to stick his foot in his mouth when a large and graceful and silver lynx simply passed through the canopy of the tent, the gleaming Patronus stopping in the center of the dance floor only a meter or so away from the Trio. The lynx opened its mouth, the unmistakable bass of Kingsley Shacklebolt falling over the entire reception.

"The Ministry has fall. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Hermione turned to look at Harry, who had a hard look on his face. "We leave now!" he bellowed before grabbing Hermione's hand and drawing his wand with his free hand, Hermione doing the same in turn. "Ron!" Harry said as he turned, Ron snapping into action as he readied himself, a furious look on his face.

They began to push through the crowd that had realized something was wrong before Hermione looked up and saw the sky flash brightly, realizing that the protective enchantments around the Burrow faltered and failed. She heard someone scream and moments later saw the flashes of spellfire at the edges of the Burrow's yards. Then the crowd really started moving and it all became a flurry of limbs and running and pushing and shoving as the tent erupted into chaos, some of the guests simply turning and Apparating on the spot, Hermione once stumbling as she nearly tripped over an arm, the consequences of hasty escapes via magical means.

"Where are we going?" Ron bellowed, "We have to stay!" he suddenly grabbed Harry by the shoulder and spun him around, "We have to stay!" he yelled again.

"Ron, we can't!" Harry yelled before suddenly spinning in place as a masked figure appeared behind him, Harry yelling out the bludgeoning curse as the angrily glowing spell lanced out and lifted the Death Eater clean off of his feet and deposited him several meters away, the man never standing up again. "The longer we stay the more likely we are going to get stuck under an Anti-Apparition enchantment! We _have _to leave and we have to leave _now!"_

Hermione didn't want them to be having this argument right now, she knew it was terrible of her since she knew what was feeling right now but Ron was putting the entire plan in danger by hesitating. She then realized they were all missing something. "My bag!" she gasped out as she saw Professor Lupin and Tonks set up a temporary shield around the area that held the greatest number of guests, most of which Hermione saw weren't picking up a wand to fight back. "We are missing my bag and your rucksack Harry! We've got all our equipment in there!" she scanned the area again before casting a bludgeoning curse at a nearby Death Eater who was advancing on a group of Fleur's cousins, the girls shrieking as the man was suddenly thrown violently across the ground, several of them peppering him with a slew of hexes that Hermione didn't recognize.

Harry grit his teeth, pointed his wand at the Burrow and yelled out "Accio rucksack! Accio Hermione's bag!"

Hermione squinted at the Burrow and saw the window to Ron's room smash open as the two items in question suddenly zoomed out and started flying at them, she braced herself as they suddenly flew into her outstretched arms, passing Harry his rucksack which he threw over his back while she fastened her bag around her shoulders.

"We have to leave now!" Hermione yelled as she grabbed the two of them and concentrated on Tottenham Court Road before she felt the familiar squeezing of Apparition… followed by a sudden stretching that dropped all of them flat on their feet.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Anti-Apparition!" Hermione answered as she scrambled back up to her feet before being pulled back down by Harry as a spell whizzed by her head.

"Careful!" Harry yelled as he turned to Hermione, "My broom," Harry said with urgency, "Take out my broom, Ron's too!"

"No!" Ron yelled as he looked back at the Burrow as a pale blue bolt flew up into the sky, thunder and lightning suddenly coursing together as the Dark Mark appeared in the night sky, a green skull vomiting forth a twisting hissing serpent. Ron turned around, his voice a mixture of fear and anger. "I _have_ to stay!" he pleaded more than yelled.

Hermione turned and looked at Harry, his jaw set and giving Ron a fierce look, knowing he had already made up his mind, she knew there was no possible way he could tell Ron to leave his family behind. Hermione back and gave Ron a strong hug.

"You be careful," she heard Harry say from behind her, his voice barely controlled, "We'll see each other again mate."

"Course we will!" Ron replied, his own voice terrified and breaking, "You take care of him Hermione," he told her before turning off and running back towards the Burrow, throwing spells as he went.

Hermione had no time to worry about the situation as she suddenly felt Harry's arm around her waist, before she jumped behind Harry and held on tightly as they zoomed up straight into the sky, the lurch of acceleration making her stomach feel worse than it already did. Hermione spared a glance back down at the Burrow to see several areas light up in spellfire combat, saw glowing shield-walls pop into place as makeshift defenses that lit up brilliantly when spells washed over them. As she turned to face forward she saw the Dark Mark suddenly shift.

The Dark Mark was _looking at her._

"_YOU CANNOT HIDE!"_

Hermione grit her teeth, her nose bleeding as she felt the familiar invasion of Voldemort's voice in her mind.

"_I SEE YOU."_

The terrible skull opened its gaping maw, its snake tongue darting out and suddenly flying at them at a speed she found terrifying and as it flew towards them, a figure suddenly appear atop the snakehead in a blinding flash of green.

"Voldemort!" Hermione yelled as she drew her wand and began firing curses at their pursuer. This time she had no desperation clouding her mind, she knew that Harry could outfly anything and everything under the Sun, Voldemort had no chance of catching them. Just as she thought this she suddenly felt the same lurch of acceleration as Harry sped up, Hermione having to hold on tightly to make sure she didn't fall.

She turned around and saw Voldemort gaining on them, the Dark Lord simply floating on a serpent of cloud, his robes melting and turning into wisps as he moved, his entire body seemingly made out of the same jet black cloud that had transformed into during their battle on the Astronomy Tower. She started firing spell after spell at him, several of them going wide with most of them splashing harmlessly against shields the madman erected.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Voldemort was upon her.

The broom suddenly lurched to the side as Harry banked hard, Voldemort's Killing Curse flying off harmlessly into the distance. However in that split second Hermione realized she was wrong, his body wasn't made out of the same inky smoke as before.

His body was missing its skin.

He was charred, burned nearly to a crisp, his skin painfully breaking and cracking into angry red scar lines along his jaw. He had no lips; his mouth was simply a large grinning visage of inhumanly sharp teeth that were constantly bared at her. His face was simply a skull with only the thinnest layers of charred skin plastered on, and though Hermione realized he had no eyes, she could swear that he was looking straight at her.

"Avada-"

"Vercundus!" Hermione yelled, smashing his lower jaw with the bludgeoning curse as Voldemort's head was suddenly rocked to the side, several teeth flying out of his mouth in streams of blood and falling to the Earth below.

"_LUCK SAVED YOU ONCE!" _his voice started burning in her mind, "_IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU AGAIN MUDBLOOD!" _She saw him wave his wand in a grand manner before the sky seemed to explode around her as hundreds upon hundreds of explosions simply manifested in the sky that began to buffet her and Harry, some of them appearing close enough to them that they burned her skin.

There was suddenly a large bang and a bright flash of light that brought everyone's attention back to the Dark Mark over the Burrow. The Dark Mark was suddenly distorted in a vision of pain before a giant symbol of a lightning bolt smashed through it and destroyed it completely.

Hermione suddenly felt the broom spin in a complete 180 as Harry came face to face with Voldemort, his wand raised straight into the Dark Lord's face.

"Expecto Patro-"

In that brief instant Hermione saw the Dark Lord falter, saw something that could have sworn was fear play across his disfigured face and just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

Harry dropped his wand arm to his side, his whole body suddenly sagging in relaxation as it became clear that the pursuit was over. Hermione leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before she looked around and gasped.

They were still over the area of Ottery St. Catchpole and Hermione's heart fell as she saw flashes light up the countryside. Here and there she'd see a red or blue or green bolt fly across the landscape and hit something in a bright flash of energy, the heavy thuds of explosions reaching their ears, saw houses suddenly crumble in fires, they even saw other residents take to the skies on their brooms, some of them falling to the Earth silently or screaming as spells smashed against their backs.

_Nowhere is safe._ Hermione thought grimly before she shook those thoughts from her mind.

"Harry," she said gently, "We have to go."

"I know," he said in a forced voice.

"They'll be fine love," Hermione said in small voice, hoping he didn't notice any of her own worry. "Ron is there, they'll be fine."

From her seat behind him she saw him square his shoulders, felt him take in a deep breath and nod. "I know." He stated, looking off in the direction of the Burrow where sparks of light would occasionally burst forth and the red light of a fire constantly burned. Hermione reached over and gave him another kiss on the cheek, hoping to give him encouragement to continue going on. He slowly brought the broom back around while Hermione dug into his rucksack and drew out his Invisibility Cloak before throwing it over them and casting a Disillusionment Charm over his broom to hide them further before he started heading off in a random direction.

Hermione took a look back at the newly created lightning bolt sign that had by now completely shattered the Dark Mark and wondered who created it, it was a bit too grandiose and would make no sense for any random person to cast. It _must_ have been cast by someone who knew what they were doing, someone who knew what she and Harry had just left to do. Ron? Ginny? Luna? Though after a moment of thought she realized it didn't quite matter at the moment who specifically created that symbol, it was the thought that counts and she knew that the sight had encouraged the both of them to do what must be done.

Hermione tightened her hold on Harry who had seemingly found his voice again.

"Any idea where we should head?" he asked, "Even under the Cloak and charm I don't want to be up here, we're too exposed."

"Mmmh," Hermione thought, realizing that she had no real clue what was safe anymore, they couldn't hide anywhere in the magical world and that meant the Muggle world was their only sanctuary now, but even that would be hard to hide in since now that the Death Eaters controlled the Ministry they'd be able to find them easily and hiding amongst Muggles only put innocent people at risk. What they needed was a secluded area, away from… "I know where!" Hermione said, "The Forest of Dean, where my parents took me when I was younger, we can hide out there!"

"Good thinking," Harry said, "Ready to take us then?"

Hermione threw on last glace back at the lightning bolt in the sky before turning back at Harry, who had turned around and began to look at her. Her gaze traveled up to his face and his own scar, her face was set in determination. Unlike thousands of witches and wizards who looked at his scar and thought of fame or money or the end of the war, Hermione always remembered Harry's parents, two wonderful people who had given everything so that their son might live.

She remembered the look of fear on Voldemort's face before Harry cast his Expecto Patronum.

She remembered Harry, the man she loved and the man who loved her back, who was looking worryingly at her with those great green eyes of his, who had said "I do" during someone else's wedding and who she now considered her husband.

Then she remembered that the last time Voldemort had to face a Mister and Missus Potter he had been destroyed and now that he was facing a new Mister and Missus Potter Voldemort stood no chance. They'd find his Horcruxes and they'd destroy them, then, together, they'd destroy Voldemort for the last and final time. They'd make sure of it.

She smiled up at Harry, who returned the gesture as she concentrated on the Forest of Dean and felt the pull and squeezing of Apparition; the world zoomed by them as they magically traveled to their destination.

The world stopped spinning and they'd arrived at the Forest of Dean…


	19. Loony

**AN:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed and put this story on their alerts or favorites list. Even for the people who put me on their favorites and follows too. Well, I dunno what to say except that this is the final chapter and I hope I don't botch up this final chapter because I want this whole mess to turn out good. Though it is rather short compared to several others.

So, special thanks to-

**Spoilerlover**: Who seems to have reviewed every chapter and listened to some of my crazy ideas for future fanfics.

**Almanera: **Who gave me some nice reviews along with a nice PM.

**GenetiX23: **Who had some problems with the story at first but then started liking it (I hope!).

**xoRetributionox**: For wishing me luck on my finals. I just checked my grades today and I got straight As and aced all the finals, so thanks for that.

Now, I'm going to be out of the country from Dec. 22 to Jan. 6 so new stories (probably a few one-shots) will show up after that. I do have some ideas for full length ones (and yeah, they are all H/Hr) but I'll have to think on those a bit more before they show up. I've gotten a few questions asking if there'll be a sequel to this and… there probably won't be. To me this story is about Hermione and the development of her relationship with Harry (from a simple crush to true love) and the Horcrux hunt and fighting Voldemort isn't really part of that. The battle in ch 15 and the last part of ch 18 show that Hermione will stick by Harry even in the face of Voldemort, so any further action is irrelevant from a story point of view to me.

Enough of that, on with the last chapter. Thanks for reading.

* * *

**Loony**

The Hogwarts Express was happily chugging along, though Luna didn't know if the Express was happy because it was chugging, and if so what was it chugging, or if it was chugging because it was happy. Or if it was happily chugging because it was going along. _This is a mystery for another time,_ Luna decided, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to solve this conundrum in so short a time. Nor was she sure she wanted to spend her last Hogwarts Express ride solving it. It was odd, Luna thought, to be on the Hogwarts Express for what might be the last time in her life, looking out the window and seeing Hogsmeade Station disappear into the distance, the large, wonderful silhouette of Hogwarts disappearing in the early morning sky.

She looks around her compartment, the thing empty except for her and, presumably, Wrackspurts. It's almost exactly like her first ride on the Express; that had also been a solitary ride with only Wrackspurts keeping her company… and a frog named Trevor that sat next to her for a few minutes before declaring he had business to attend to elsewhere.

Luna sighed, missing her friends. It was too bad that they weren't here any longer…

_Nope._ Luna thought as she sat up a bit straighter, _This isn't time for sad thoughts._

She looked out the window, searching her mind for any happy thoughts to keep her from missing her friends…

The battle of Hogwarts.

Not the battle itself, that had been an immensely horrific day and she didn't want to dwell on all the people who weren't here anymore, instead she thought of Harry and Hermione. She remembered Harry fighting Voldemort all throughout the castle, their spells washing out everything else around them, the entire castle trembling as their spells collided or smashed into walls and gouged out huge craters where they hit. It had been terrifying, Voldemort was immensely powerful and had years of experience and spell knowledge behind him and Harry, while magically powerful too, had none of that experience or spell knowledge.

On the other hand he did have two Time-Turners and a very determined Hermione Granger.

She remembered Harry appearing at two places at once through time shenanigans and fighting Voldemort on two fronts, she remembered one moment where there seemed to be two Harrys fighting about the castle. Harry had even told her, once and in secret, that he had used the Time-Turner mid-battle to go back into early morning, to a point in time _before_ he and Hermione had arrived, and hid in a room and slept and ate before reappearing into the battle right in front of Voldemort, who was still surprised that Harry had disappeared so suddenly, and smacked him with a bludgeoning hex right in his mouth.

She'd been nearby when that had happened and laughed quite loudly when it did.

But the best part, the moment in the battle that cemented and drove home any doubt that Harry and Hermione were made for each other, the part that told her that she had been correct when she said that she wouldn't be as brilliant with Harry as Hermione would be, the moment that she was remember in an effort to keep away any sadness was The Patronus.

It had been after Hermione had killed Voldemort's pet snake with the Sword of Gryffindor, though Luna only learned about that later on, and Voldemort's body began to break down even more than it had turned into a large wispy black cloud with only his scarred, burned head remaining at its center. Voldemort, now a terrible cloud of death, had expanded and engulfed the entire Great Hall, anyone who ventured in died terribly, except for Harry. All anyone could see or hear inside the Hall was the sounds of spellfire and the flashes of magical explosions.

And then Hermione ran into the Hall, calling after Harry and flinging spells into the darkness. More spells followed, more muffled yelling and then an unbearable stretch of silence.

Then all she heard was "Expecto Patronum!" before the world went white.

Luna smiled, the memory alone of that wonderful Patronus already lifting her spirits. She remembered how she had to close her eyes, thrown her arm in front of her face and she could still see nothing but a wonderfully blinding and warm light. She remembered opening her eyes and stumbling into the Great Hall, trying to fight off the stars in her eyes as she found her sight again and saw Harry standing over a small, burnt, skull, a skull that only seconds ago had held one of the most evil minds in recent history before he raised his foot and stamped it into dust.

Luna tried not to think about all the funerals that had to come after that, or the fact that the Aurors still had to go out and seek the last remaining Death Eaters, or the small, pitiful counterattack some Death Eaters launched against Hogwarts a few days later, no, instead she focused on that Patronus and the sight of Harry smashing Voldemort's skull and the sight of Harry and Hermione turning and kissing each other, on the great cheer that went out throughout Hogwarts, the throngs of people celebrating all across Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley…

Luna startled out of her happy memory as she turned her head to look at what she _thought_ had been a Wrackspurt's call.

Of course that was silly, Wrackspurts made noises that humans couldn't hear, so there was no way she'd be able to… her eyes suddenly widened.

_What if I have powers?_

It all suddenly made sense, she'd read about this in some of those books Muggles sometimes read that she'd seen on a few occasions, where people woke up and had powers. Maybe she could hear Wrackspurts? Maybe she was an X man? Or what if she was the Queen of the Wrackspurts and-

_Oh it's just the door._ Luna said, remembering that she had locked it and placed privacy charms on her compartment door. She gathered her wand up in her hands, rubbed her eyes to make sure she didn't have any stray tears, and unlocked the door.

_No one here._

She thought that maybe, just maybe, it actually _was_ A Wrackspurt call and-

"Hello Professor Scamander." A small voice said.

Luna turned her gaze downwards, Padma and Lavender looking up at her with their big eyes, smiling as she saw their cute little faces.

"Oh! Come in!" she chirped happily as she ushered them in, happy to see them again… though she had just seen them a few hours ago at the Great Hall as they all filed out of the school for the year. The two girls, best friends since early childhood, began talking excited while Luna looked them over, smiling at their happy looks and little giggles. Padma Bellos as the daughter of Parvati and David Bellos, the little girl having inherited her mother's, and subsequently her aunt's, looks, though she took after her father. And Lavender Emilia Potter looked like an exact copy of Hermione at her age though, like all of Harry and Hermione's children, she inherited Harry's eyes.

Luna frowned a little as she noticed Lavender giving her dirty looks, as dirty as a little 11 year old girl could possibly give.

"What's wrong Lavender?" she asked, wondering what the little girl could possibly be mad at her for. Had she gotten a Troll in her Care of Magical Creatures Class? _No, that doesn't make sense_, Luna realized, _She did quite well in my class…_

"Professor Scamander?" she heard Lavender call her.

"What happened to Auntie Loony?" Luna asked, wondering why the girl was being so formal.

Lavender frowned again before looking over at Padma, the little girl nodding.

"Auntie, did you ever kiss my dad?" she asked quickly.

"Oh," Luna replied, her mind going back to the first she'd ever had, with Harry under the mistletoe in Slughorn's party. "Yup." She answered simply, "Twice. He's a very nice kisser, he's gentle yet-" Her words were cut off when Lavender jumped from her seat and started attacking her. Luckily Lavender was a bit small for her age and, being only 11, her punches were more akin to weak pats against her legs rather than a savage beating. Luckily she was rescued when the door to the compartment swung open again, this time admitting a few more girls into the compartment, one in particular gasping at what she saw.

"Lavender!" the third year yelled before pulling the small girl off of her, "What are you doing?" while Luna stared at the two of them, always internally laughing when she saw the two girls next to each other, it was quite nice that both of Harry and Hermione's girls took after their mother's looks. "Apologize to Auntie Loony at once!"

Luna looked over at Lily Luna Potter, her stern expression and stance an exact copy of Hermione's stance.

"No!" Lavender huffed, "Auntie kissed dad!"

Hermione Weston, Clara and William's little girl, gasped and looked at Luna with wide eyes while Lily huffed in annoyance.

"Yes, she did," she admitted, "But so did Aunt Lavender and Aunt Parvati, are you going to go and attack them too?" Hermione and Padma both gasped, while Lavender appeared ready to cry.

Luna jumped in, she hated seeing little Lavender cry and pulled Lavender up on her lap, the little girl struggling against her. "Shhhh, shh," she cooed, the little girl calming down slightly, "I did kiss your dad, but that was when we were little, when we were students at Hogwarts and _before_ your daddy had started fancying your mummy."

"Really?" Lavender asked as she started to calm back down.

"Yup," Luna said as she saw her goddaughter begin to calm down and pull out a book, Luna feeling oddly nostalgic at the sight, the girls really did look so much like their mum. "In fact," Luna continued, "how about I tell you girls how I helped your dad and mum become a couple?" Lavender nodded enthusiastically, Hermione and Padma following suit. "Great!" Luna exclaimed happily before looking out the window, "We still have a few hours before we get to King's Cross, we should have enough time." She looked at the girls as they clearly began to settle in for a long story, Hermione pulling out her mother's lucky robes and throwing it over herself like a blanket, Lily surreptitiously pretending to be more interested in her book than in her parent's romance story. "Lavender," Luna began in her dreamy voice, "Don't get mad, but this story does start when me and your daddy fancied each other and your mum fancied Uncle Ron-"

"What!" the little girls yelled out, Padma's face a hilarious rendition of disgust and terror.

"-but no worries," Luna continued as Lily stifled a laugh, "Well… I think it all began sometime in January or September, 1980, when my dad, Grandpa Xeno, and my mum were feeling a little frisky and forgot to use the-"

"Auntie Loony," Lily cut in immediately, "Maybe you can skip that part of the story," she said, "And get to when you and my dad fancied each other yes?" she nodded.

"That's a good idea," Luna said, "Now that I think about it, that part of the story is unreliable, since I don't know if they forgot to use the contra-oh, right," she said, finally realizing why Lily didn't want her to say this part of the story. "Well ok… let's start the story at Hogwarts, I was out by the Black Lake looking for the Nargles that had stolen my shoes and Harry came over to me…"

For the next hour or so she told the four girls, Lily wasn't fooling anyone, the story of Harry and Hermione's friendship saved from a year of distrust and jealousy and how it blossomed into the love they see today.

They only took a few breaks when the Food Trolley Lady rolled around and when Rose Weasley came around and asked Lily for some reading material before deciding to join their little group, the two girls reminiscing about the time they first heard this story too. At one point James Sirius Potter, Harry and Hermione's first child, a carbon copy of Harry himself, walked in and chatted with them, though Luna and Lily both clearly picked up on the fact that he was not-so-subtly asking them about their mutual friend, Jasmine Wintermill, Fay's daughter. He only left when Rose mentioned that Jasmine was currently alone in her compartment, giggling as James made some flimsy excuse to "make sure she was going to the party."

The rest of the train ride was spent chatting about the party that was going to be held at Harry and Hermione's house to celebrate the end of the first year for several of their children.

Luna smiled, beaming at her friends and congratulating them on their first year and they in turn made her feel as if she'd gotten another silly Waterbee in her eye as they told her they loved her Care of Magical Creatures Class, Rose and Lily both adding that she was a wonderful replacement for Hagrid. She looked forward to seeing her friends again.

Soon or not so soon actually, Luna often had a hard time telling time, they all felt the Express slow down and lurch into King's Cross Station, the large whistle blowing and the excited sounds of students packing up and heading out mixed in with the cheering just outside their windows as parents welcomed their children back.

"Hey dove!" Luna heard a familiar voice outside her window and felt her heart leap when she saw her husband, Rolf, standing on the platform as he waved at her. It felt great to see him after a year, though he'd have to shave that beard of his, he's liable to get Fairy Nargles stuck in there. She made her way to the platform, bumping in to her two baby twins Lorcan and Lysander on the way to meet their father.

"Hey dove," he cheered as he walked over and gave her a long kiss, Luna happy in the knowledge that she'd found her own brilliant boy in the end. She had Harry to thank for that too. It had been about a year after Voldemort had been defeated and, keeping his word, Harry had gone with her on an expedition to look for Crumple Horned Snorkacks in Switzerland. At one point Harry walked straight into a Cretan Teeth Plant, which was surprising even to Luna since Cretan Teeth Plants shouldn't be found anywhere near Switzerland. She'd taken Harry back to a nearby hospital to get his wound checked out, and to immediately owl Hermione. Harry, his kind heart acting up once again, began to apologize for getting injured so quickly into the expedition and thus began a small conversation where Luna explained that it was not his fault and began to speculate on just how it was that the plant found its way to Switzerland when the plant is native to the island of Crete. She'd suggested that, perhaps, the plant found its way there on its own, just like birds moving across different parts of the country as the seasons changed and that had been when a nearby patient on the next hospital cot over entered the conversation with "Are you suggesting Cretan Teeth Plants migrate?" Thus did Rolf come into her life.

"Your beard tickles," she said dreamily as Rolf took her trunk and stowed it away along with the boys' own luggage. "Shave it."

"I thought I look manly in it," Rolf said as he played with his beard, "And it adds to my look of an explorer… huh, it is a bitch itchy though innit?"

"A bit more than a bit," Luna commented as she saw Lavender storm up to her father and started attacking him with the same fervor that she had attacked her, "Oh, let's see what's going on."

Luna and her family approached the scene, the other families already having crowded around to see Harry taken down by his little girl. There was Lavender Thomas and her son Gerald next to her best friend and business partner Parvati Bellos, her husband David and their daughter Padma, who was talking to her mother in her native tongue too fast for Luna to understand. Padma and her husband Edward Vardon watching on in interest as their twins, Sohan and Mohan waved and made their way over to Luna's own set of twins.

Clara and William, along with their daughters Hermione, Fay, Michelle and their small newborn Helen. Luna liked that couple, Clara was still called Mousy because of her tendency to rise in pitch the longer she talked while they called William Bassy because of his deep voice. Clara, despite having her hands full with Helen, still somehow found a way to go around and hug all the kids and spoil them as rotten as she could by slipping them treats when their parents weren't looking. Fay and Anthony Wintermill were making their way over to their group, the two Aurors still dressed in their on-duty uniforms while Jasmine whispered in hushed tones to her mother and occasionally threw glances over at James, her mother smirking all the while.

That huge crowd of redheads was the Weasleys, Ron and Rosalinda's group. It was surprising, or it would have been surprising had Luna not already been told to expect this from the Faceless Man, that Ron had ended up with a Muggle woman. They'd met when Harry and Hermione had invited their entire group to an outing to Muggle London several years ago, where Ron immediately fell in love with something the Muggles called pizza. At one of those pizza places that Ron became a frequent customer to he met Rosalinda, who, it turned out, was the daughter of the man who owned the restaurant. Ron, who by that time had matured into an upstanding young man had tried to impress her by learning some of her native language, Spanish. Luna had been there when Ron had tried to woo Rosalinda and saw his spectacular failure, they'd all walked away that day thinking Ron had blown it, only to cheer after Ron was suddenly called back into the restaurant by Rosalinda and, after a few minutes of waiting, he emerged with a paper with her "tely number" and a smile on his face. And now they had Rose, Hugo, Arturo and Karen Weasley, Rosalinda's big belly telling everyone that there was another on the way.

And then there was Harry and Hermione. The pair of Moon Frogs, the pair that defeated Voldemort, the Brightest Witch and the Boy Who Lived. The woman who was championing rights for all magical creatures and the boy who, contrary to much of the public's expectations, turned into a brilliant potions researcher. Their son James Sirius Potter and their two daughters, Lily Luna Potter and Lavender Emilia Potter, who was currently having a bit of a tiff with her father.

"No!" they heard little Lavender yell out, "Mummy Auntie Loony told me-"

"Oh dove, what have you done?" Rolf asked beside Luna.

"-that daddy went and kissed Auntie Loony and Auntie Lavender and Auntie Parvati!" Lavender huffed while her godmother and aunt in question began laughing amongst themselves, while Parvati quipped that she was still holding on to her pledge that Harry would get another snog if he ever set foot in their beauty shop.

"Honey," Hermione began as she held her daughter back, "That was a long time ago, your daddy doesn't go around snogging other women now, does he?" she sent him a mock glare.

"No of course not sweetie, your mum is the only woman I've kissed since then. That's why mummy doesn't let me go anywhere near Aunt Parvati's beauty shop and-" he stopped when he received a soft punch on the shoulder, "Besides, I wouldn't want to kiss any other woman." He said as he looked at Hermione, James rolling his eyes and pretending to gag with his group of friends before straightening up as Jasmine shot him a look.

"Prove it." Little Lavender challenged, "I won't believe you until I see you and mummy kiss."

"No way out of this one mate," Ron said from beside them, Rosalinda laughing beside him, obviously enjoying Lavender's challenge.

Luna loved looking at Harry and Hermione, there was something immensely charming in the way they looked at each other even 19 years later, Luna could swear they were still newly-weds the way they acted.

"So, you won't believe I love your mum until after you see me kiss her?" Harry asked, amusement in his eyes as he looked at his youngest.

"Yes. And it has to be a good kiss, not like the one James gave Jasmine that was over before it began! It has to be looooooong!" she declared, James sputtering beside her as Jasmine turned a deep red, Hermione sharing a smirk with Fay as they caught each other's gaze.

Harry stood up and gave his son a look before turning to his wife, who was giving him a sly smile. "Well you heard her my lady, she won't believe we love each other until we kiss on it. And it has to be a loooong kiss."

"Yup!" Lavender declared again, "A looooooooong kiss."

"Oh I don't know my captain," Hermione went on, "We've been married a long time, do you think you can still-mmhp!" She was cut off when Harry moved in and embraced in a long searing kiss, the adults cheering and clapping, some of the younger girls giggling while the boys, save still embarrassed James, rolled their eyes and continued to talk to each other about Quidditch and pranks.

"Still brilliant," Luna sighed under her breath, Rolf turning at her voice and asking what she'd said.

Luna turned to look at the love of her life, her own Umgubular Slashkilter, her own boy to be brilliant with. The father of the two wonderful twins of theirs. She grabbed him by his beard and pulled him down into a kiss, his beard tickling her as she did so. "Nothing dear," she said dreamily, "Just that everything is brilliant."

She turned back to Harry and Hermione, who were still kissing, Lavender happily jumping up and down as she cheered and saw that her parents did in fact love each other, Lily who was happily cheering along with the rest of their friends and James who began to give a small smile and clapped along with the crowd. She looked at all her friends who had lived through the battle and gone on and gotten married and started their families.

She cheered and clapped along with the small gathering of friends, not caring that some people still gave her odd looks as they walked around the station, that was fine now. Let them look. Loony was a name that no longer hurt her, she had friends who had said her name affectionately now.

Ron had grown up and matured.

Lavender and Parvati had started their own business and reached their dreams.

Padma was a business woman herself, marrying an equally smart wizard.

Clara was a happy mom.

Fay was a tough and cool Auror.

No one made fun of Hermione's intelligence anymore.

Harry's scar hadn't bothered him in 19 years.

"Everything is brilliant."


End file.
